AUTOBIOGRAPHY 

OF THE 

/ 

REV. LUTHER LEE, 1)1). 



'^Strike, but hear me.*' 




JEQ 15 1883 ' 



V1) 



NEW YORK : 
PHILLIPS & HUNT. 

CINCINNATI ; 
WALDEK <Sc STOWS. 

1882. 




Copyright 1882, by 
PHILLIPS & HUNT, 
New York. 



PREFACE. 



TN presenting tlie following pages to tlie pnb- 
lie I believe myself to be offering that 
wMcli will be both entertaining and useful. 
The scene does not open under the shadow of 
a throne surrounded by the curtains of royal- 
ty, nor amid the political m.achinery that al- 
ways has and always will gather around the 
center of a republic to fatten upon its spoils 
and shape its destiny. It opens with the 
cloudy dawn of an obscure beginning, and 
unfolds amid the scenes of rural and unsophist- 
icated life before what is called modern im- 
provements, like a wave, swept over the land, 
and changed the face of society. Rural society 
seventy years ago was a very different thing 
from what it is to-day, and in no aspect has it 
changed more than in the morals and religion 
of the several denominations of Christians, and 



4 PreFxVce. 

in tlieir relations to each otlier. Many tilings 
wliicli were then considered as right are now 
denounced as the most flagitious crimes, and 
denominations which then made Yvar npon 
each other and denounced each other as dam- 
nable heretics now co-operate and sing and pray 
together as loving Christian brethren. Some 
persons of the present day appear to suppose 
themselves living in a degenerate age. If 
such will read the following pages it may 
tinge their gloomy thoughts with some bright- 
er rays, if it does not lift the cloud entirely 
from their minds. 

The writer's memory, like a telescopic viev/, 
sv>^eeps the fields of seventy years, and he can 
appreciate things as they vvere and as they are, 
having witnessed all the changes which have 
culminated in the present condition of society. 
The age in which the writer has lived has been 
the most distinguished for human progi^ess of 
all the ages since time dawned. Of course no 
general history of the times will be attempted ; 
the writer v/ill confine himself mainly to his 



PliEFACE. 



5 



own limited circle; but the incidents of his 
life which may be narrated will be largely 
representative and highly suggestive^ giving a 
clear insight into those long-departed years 
over w^hich the flight of time is fast spreading 
the deepening vail of oblivion. 

There are now living but very few persons 
who were born wdth the century, and who 
were pioneers in the great movements which 
have distinguished it from all other centuries. 
The w^riter must soon pass aw'a}^, but before 
his long active brain and hand cease their 
functions he wishes to make a record of his 
times which may remain, and act for a time, at 
least, after his personal w^ork is finished. 
Some of the most important theological ques- 
tions which were discussed and settled fifty 
years ago are being opened again for re-exami. 
nation. As the w^riter had a large share in 
the discussions of those times, a brief state- 
ment of the questions as then controverted and 
settled cannot fail to be interesting, and may 
save some labor to the disputants of the pres- 



6 Preface. 

ent day. Trutli is tlie same now that it was 
then, and, in the main, the same arguments 
which were successful in the defense of truth 
then will prove successful still if properly 
applied. 

The fact that the Churches and ministers 
largely took the wrong side in the early dis- 
cussion of the subject of slavery has passed 
into history, and this volume is not intended 
to add to that general history, but only to 
show the part the writer had in furnishing the 
facts of that history, having taken a very 
active part in the antislaveiy discussion. So 
large a portion of the writer's life was devoted 
to the antislavery cause that his biography 
would be defective and false if this were 
omitted. 

With these brief explanations the narrative 
is submitted to a generous public. 

Luther Lee. 

Flint, Michigan, October^ 1881. 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER L 

My Parentage Pago 15 

CHAPTER 11. 

My Childhood and Youth 17 

CHAPTER III. 

My Early Religious Experience 21 

CHAPTER lY. 

My Career as a Local Preacher 25 

CHAPTER Y. 

The Opening of my Traveling Ministry 81 

CHAPTER YL 

Malone Circuit—Opening Scenes— State of the Church 87 



CHAPTER YII. 
Amusing Anecdotes —Religious Warfare. 



45 



8 Contexts. 

CHAPTER YIII. 

My First Attendance at Conference — Examination — Opposition 
and Reception — The Hand of Providence in it — Bishop Roberts 
—The Conference Page 62 

CHAPTER IX. 

Waddington Circuit — A Struggle in reaching it — Opening Scenes 
— Incidents — A Successful Year '71 

CHAPTER X. 

My Second Conference — Bishop Hedding — Reappointed to Wad- 
dington — Some Revivals — Hard Work — The Battle waxes Warmer 
— A Contest with Universalists—A Successful Year 80 

CHAPTER XT. 

My Third Conference — Ordained an Elder — Appointed to Heuvel 
— A Successful Year , 90 



CHAPTER XII. 

My Fourth Conference — Reappointed to Heuvel — My Second 
Year's Labor — Another Battle with Universalists — The Year's 
Results summed up 98 

CHAPTER Xm. 

My Debate with the Rev. Pitt Morse — An Epitome of the Dis- 
cussion — A Resort to the Press — The Consequences 106 



CHAPTER XIV 

My Fifth Conference — Appointed to Lowville and Martinsburgh 
—A Pleasant Year— An Attack of Fever. 120 



COXTEXTS. 



9 



CHAPTER XV. 

Appointed to Fulton Charge — A very Delightful Appointment — 
Some Antislavery Members — My Antislavery Experience — The 



Antislavery Battle opened Page 131 

CHAPTER XYI. 

The New York Trials — C. K. True and Others arraigned — My 
Defense of True — The other Trials and the Result — The Pro- 
slavery Programme divulged — Its Failure 142 



CHAPTER XYII. 

My Mission to the Canada Conference — Its Failure — Newspaper 
Discussion in regard to it — The Conference — Antislavery Excite- 
ment — Charges Preferred against Me and again Withdrawn — My 



Location 158 

CHAPTER XYIII. 

Farewell to Fulton — Engaged as an Antislavery Agent — The 
Work Begun — Mobs and Rumors of Mobs — Albany, West Troy, 
and Schenectady — Home Again 167 

CHAPTER XIX. 

Brother Brown!s Trial at Auburn — My Defense — A Western 
Tour... 179 

CHAPTER XX. 

Home Work — Egg Logic — A Tour East — A Tour North — 
Home again — Having Closed my Year's Labor, I Resign my 
Agency,. 192 



10 CONTEOTS. 

CHAPTER XXL 

A Brief Review — A Specimen of my Principles and Mode of 
Presenting them .Page 198 

CHAPTER XXIL 



Invited to Massachusetts — Made a Lecturing Tour through 
Connecticut — Middletown — Reached Boston very Sick 212 

CHAPTER XXIIL 
My New Field of Labor — Difficulties in the Way of Rapid Prog- 



ress — A Triangle Fight 216 

CHAPTER XXIY. 

An Earnest Year's Work — Opposition on every Hand — Discour- 
aging Prospect , 223 



CHAPTER XXY. 

A Dark Day for Methodist Antislavery — Another Attempt to 
Rally — A Failure — My own Course the while — Secession 230 

CHAPTER XXYL 

The First Secession Trumpet-blast— It Fell upon My own Ears 
with Startling Surprise — My own Position Unknown— A Letter 
from the Boston Preachers' Meeting on the Subject—The Reason 



why I was not Consulted 337 

CHAPTER XXYIL 

Reasons which I Believed Justified Secession from the Meth- 
odist Episcopal Church 241 



Contents. 



11 



CHAPTER XXYIII. 

The Utica Convention — Organization of the Wesleyan Meth- 
odist Connection of America Page 247 

CHAPTER XXIX. 

The Effect of the Wesleyan Organization upon the Methodist 
Episcopal Church — How their Action affected the Xew Move- 
ment — My personal Efforts 251 

CHAPTER XXX. 

"Visit to Jamestown — Lecture in several Places — An Episcopal 
Rally— A great Fight 256 

CHAPTER XXXI. 

The Second Debate — The Result — The Organization of a Wes- 
leyan Church at Jamestown 264 

CHAPTER XXXn. 

The First Session of the New York Conference — An Omnium 
Gatherum — Elected President — Appointed Conference Missionary 
— Elected a Delegate to the General Conference 268 

CHAPTER XXXIII. 

The First Wesleyan General Conference — Elected President — 
The Secret-society Question — On the Verge of an Explosion — 
Elected Editor — Homeward Bound — ^A Terrible Storm. 271 

CHAPTER XXXIY. 

The First Four Years of my Editorship — Difficulties in my Way 
— ^Abundant Labors — Eulogy on Orange Scott 275 



12 



Contents. 



CHAPTER XXXV. 

Second General Conference — Re-elected Editor with some op- 
position — Resigned in the Spring of 1852, and accepted of the 



I'iistorate of my old Church in Syracuse Page 280 

CHAPTER XXXYI. 

In Syracuse — The Third General Conference — A Challenge — 
A Debate on the Doctrine of the Trinity 283 



CHAPTER XXXYIL 

Invited to Fulton — Published my Book entitled, " Elements of 
Theology " — Elected Professor of Theology in Leoni College — 
Fourth General Conference — My Resignation of the Professorship 290 

CHAPTER XXXYIII. 

Remove to Felicity, Ohio — A Two Years' Pastorate — Remove 
to Chagrin Falls — Oration on John Brown — Fifth General Confer- 
ence — Appointed Connectional Missionary — Yery Sick and Resign 
■ — Another Pastorate — Elected Professor — Remove to Adrian, 
Mich. — Sixth and Last General Conference 294 

CHAPTER XXXIX. 

Financial Embarrassment of the College — Proposed Union with 
the Protestant Methodists — Its Failure — The College changes hands 
— I Resign and Return to the Methodist Episcopal Church 299 

CHAPTER XL. 

My Reception into the Detroit Conference — My Return to the 
Methodist Episcopal Church Defended 305 



Cois^tkints. 13 

ClIAPTEK XLL 
Fourteen Years in the Methodist Episcopal Church since my 
Eoiuin Page 311 

CHAPTEIl XLII. 
Woik on the Under-ground Railroad. . , 320 

CHAPTER XLIII. 

A Review of Life— Its Evening Hour-~In Sight of the Crossing 
—The Prospect Beyond S31 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY 

OF 

REV. LUTHER LEE. 

> « e » < 

CHAPTEE L 

My Parentage. 

I AM unable to trace an ancestral line beyond 
grandparents. I am of pnre English, descent. 
My grandfather Lee was an Englislmian, and came 
to Boston about 1748 or 1750. He married Miss 
Deborah Bundy. Their nnion was blessed with two 
sons, Samuel and Moses. Samuel, the oldest, was 
my father. He was born in 1754, and, consequently, 
was twenty-one years old at the commencement of 
the Revolution, when he enlisted, and served his 
country until he was discharged after our independ- 
ence was acknowledged. 

My mother's maiden name was lYilliams. Her 
father was an Englishmxan, and came to America as a 
soldier under General Braddock, and was in the dis- 
astrous battle of Braddock's defeat. When discharged 
from the army he went to Connecticut, and settled 
in "Woodbury, on Lord Woodbury's Patent. Wood- 
bury was afterward called Bethlehem. He married 



IG AuTOBioGRAriiY OF Kev. Luther Lee. 

Miss Thankful Spencer, of the Puritan stock. Their 
daughter Hannah was my mother. Grandfather 
"Williams died wlien he was young, and she was 
brought up in the family of the Rev. Dr. Belamy, 
the great New England divine of that day. 

When my father was discharged from the army, 
at the close of the Revolution, he found his w^ay 
to Woodbury, Conn., and married Miss Hannah 
Williams, who was still living in the family of Dr. 
Belamy. ISTine children were the result of their 
union, all of whom lived to be men and women. We 
were a family of seven brothers and two sisters, of 
which I was the youngest save one, I am the only 
one left of the nine. The youngest died at the age 
of fifty, about twenty-eight years ago ; and my oldest 
brother, and the oldest of the family, died about seven 
years ago, at the advanced age of ninety-one ; and I 
am the last of the family lingering on these shores of 
mortality, now in my eighty-first year. 



My Childhood and Youth. 



17 



CHAPTEE II. 

My Childhood and Youth. 

I WAS born in Schoharie, IsT. Y., but my parents 
moved into Delaware County at the dawn of my 
recollection. Memory made its first clear and indel- 
ible record in the townshijD of Courtwright. This 
was the neighborhood of the distinguished Bangs 
family, some of whom I remember very distinctly. 
John Bangs held meetings in my father's house when 
I was seven or eight years old, and I remember to 
have been affected by his very loud and earnest ex- 
hortation. 

I removed with my parents into Ulster County 
w^hen I w^as about nine years old. At the age of 
thirteen I lost my mother, and the family was broken 
up ; and I found myself alone in the world, and, 
under God, I have been my own guardian and care- 
taker ever since. 

No one who has not been in like circumstances can 
know the utter loneliness and desolation which 1 then 
felt ; and the years that followed, until I became a 
man, were the saddest years of all my life. I am 
not sure that they have not left an impression on my 

; mind which will modify the whole of my subsequent 

I existence. 



18 AUTOBIOGEAPHY OF EeY. LuTIIEK LeE. 

After serious tlioiiglit and revolving in my mind 
the best course to pursue, I set my young face west- 
Avard, and struck out for a new home to be sought 
among strangers. This was in Ulster County, and 
the j)rincipal road leading north-west was known as 
tlie Old Esopus Turnpike, called Sopus in common 
parlance. This road led me over Pine Hill, so- 
called, but more properly Hemlock Mountain, and 
after crossing the mountain I descended into the 
valley of the east branch of the Delaware Eiver, 
and made my first stand in Middletown, Delaware 
County. 

It was in the month of April, and I hired myself out 
for the summer. In the fall, when my contract was 
finished, I w^ent to live with a man by the name of 
Smith, the next neighbor, with whom I had formed 
a favorable acquaintance during the summer. Mr. 
Smith owned a custom grist-mill, with a single run 
of stones, in which all kinds of grain were ground. 
I soon learned to grind, and became master of the 
establishment, and had princi]3al charge of it while I 
remained in Mr. Smith's employ, which was about 
four years. 

I found that same Mr. Smith in Michigan, near 
Addison, in 1864, forty-nine years after I left his 
service, having never seen him or heard from him 
during all these years. At the time I found him he 
Vv^as over eighty years old. 

I left Mr. Smith in the fall of 1817, and went to 



My Childhood and Youth. 



19 



live witli Mr. Daniel II. Burr, only about four miles 
distant. I had done the grinding for Mr. Burr for 
a number of years, and hence had become well ac- 
quainted with him. Learning that I was a little dis- 
satisfied with my position, Mr. Burr made me an of- 
fer to come and live with him until I should be 
twenty-one, and I took him at his ofier and closed the 
bargain, and we both fulfilled our contract to the 
word. I cannot say to the letter, for no papers were 
executed between us. Mr. Burr was a farmer on a 
small scale, and also a tanner or leather-maker on a 
small scale ; and I worked at both as circumstances 
required. As a man Mr. Burr was honest and hon- 
orable, and I never had occasion to complain of his 
personal treatment ; yet he was in belief a Deist. 
He believed in God and Providence, but he did 
not believe in Christ nor in the inspiration of the 
Scriptures. 

There were no religious meetings nearer than five 
miles in one direction and six in another. There 
were no professors in the neighborhood, and, of course, 
I was under the pressure of no external religious in- 
fluence. I, however, embraced religion before I left 
Mr. Burr, as will be related in the following chapter. 
There was but little regard for morality in the com- 
munity, and drinking and even drunkenness were very 
common. And though for a time I fell into some of 
the immoral habits of the neighborhood, such as a 
disregard of the Sabbath, I never committed the folly 



20 AUTOBIOGKAPHY OF KeY. LuTHER LeE. 

and criiiie of drinking, and was never drunk in my 
life. I now look upon it as strange that I was never 
indnced to drink with drinking associates all aronnd 
nie, and I thank God for his preserving care ; for it 
reenis that nothing else could have held me back from 
the grosser vices which were openly practiced all 
around me. 



My Eaely Religious Experience. 21 



CHAPTEE III. 

My Early Religious Experience. 

MY first remembered religious feeling transpired 
when I was about eiglit years old. My mother 
was a Methodist, and listening to her reading the 
narrative of the Eev. Freeborn Garrettson, I was 
moved to tears, especially by some of the scenes of 
persecution through which he passed, and I hid my 
face so that no one should see that I was weeping. I 
then had an impression that I should be a preacher. 
That impression never left me, nor was I ever after 
without religious feeling, which was often roused 
almost to the point of open development; yet such 
were my external surroundings that I was prevented 
from taking any religious stand until I was nineteen 
years old. I had then attained more courage, and a 
more independent state of mind, so that, notwith- 
standing the outside pressure of skepticism and irre- 
ligion with w^hich I was surrounded, my religious 
feeling took on an outward form, and I went to the 
nearest preaching place on old Delaware Circuit, and 
joined the Methodist Episcopal Church, and took 
upon myself her solemn baptismal vows. That was 
an epoch in my life, a turning-point, the beginning 
of a brighter future. To be sure, the future was not 



22 AUTOBIOGEAPIIY OF EeY. LuTIIEK LeE. 

bright to my view. As yet I had no plan of life ; mist 
and darkness hnng on my path ; but a hope was kin- 
dled and an energy roused within me never experi- 
enced before, and I felt, and could not help feeling, 
I had something to live for more than 1 had ever 
realized before. What it was was yet vague, and 
how it was to be realized not yet conceived, but I 
was roused to greater mental activity, and that was 
something toward reaching an end. My active mind 
was not slow in giving external forms to thoughts that 
struggled and burned within, as will be seen ; and 
this mental operation was soon aided by suggestions, 
as my connection with the Church placed me in new 
associations, and brought around me an entirely new 
and different class of friends. I entered upon my 
Christian life, after joining the Church and taking 
upon myself the obligations of a baptized Christian, 
with no other plan than to do my Christian duty and 
honor the profession I had made. In pursuance of 
this purpose, though very timid, I soon learned to 
take part in social and public meetings as opportu- 
nities occurred and duty seemed to demand, and I 
often prayed and spoke in meetings, in conimon with 
others; and such were the Christian smiles that 
beamed on me, such the warm shake of the hand 
and the encouraging tap on the shoulder that I 
received from the older members of the Church, that 
my very great diffidence was rapidly overcome, and 
my advancement in a religious life appeared to others 



My Early Eeligious Expeeience. 23 

to be rapid, as I can now judge from the pleasant 
memory I have of their kind words and demeanor 
toward me. 

It was not long before some of the leading mem- 
bers of the Church saw, or thought they saw, in me 
a promise of future usefulness, and they managed, in 
their cautious way, to encourage me, and to draw me 
out in the public exercise of my gifts, and they were 
quite successful. I can see it all plainly now, but 
then, in my inexperience and simplicity, I did not 
understand it. Things went on in this way, and I 
attended meetings all I could, until November 25, 
just six days before I was twenty-one years old. On 
this day I went to meeting at the usual place of 
preaching, which was in the private dwelling of the 
old Dutch class-leader, Jacob Duboys^ whose house 
stood on the bank of the Delaware Elver, in the 
town of Andes. The preacher did not make his 
appearance, and, after waiting a reasonable tim^e, the 
old leader, who could never give the sound of the th, 
came to me and said, " Broder Luter, you must talk 
to the people." I was frightened, and trembled in 
every limb, yet I did not dare to refuse, and, step- 
ping forward, I made my first attempt to preach. I 
apprehend it was not much of a sermon, but it was a 
beginning, and met with, such approval, and brought 
to me such encouragement, that I continued to exer- 
cise my gifts, and have done so ever since, now sixty 
years. There was great want of laborers, and when the 



24 Autobiography of Eev. LrTiiEK Lee. 

people learned that I could talk, I had invitations 
enough, and it was thought that I made rapid im- 
provement. My first written license was signed by 
the Eev. Eben Smith, who was presiding elder on 
the Hudson Eiver District at that time. Delaware 
Circuit was a part of the district, and embraced the 
whole of Delaware County, and extended into two or 
three other counties, and how much more I cannot 
say ; but I remember very distinctly that it was more 
than three hundred miles around it, which required 
seventy-five miles travel a week, on an average, and a 
fraction over ten miles a day. Such a field of labor, 
spreading over such a wild country as Delaware Coun- 
ty was then, left ample room for the exercise of all the 
gifts found among the wide-spread and scattered peo- 
ple, and I always had enough to do while I remained 
in that mountainous country, with its lofty hill-tops 
and deep glens and coves, many of which the cir- 
cuit preachers were compelled to pass by for want of 
time. 



My Cabeee as a Local Peeachee. 25 



CHAPTEE TV. 

My Career as a Local Preacher. 

THIS will constitute a short chapter, as there is but 
little of note to be told of this period of my life, 
which embraced nearly seven years. I was unedu- 
cated and inexperienced, and I commenced my public 
life under disadvantages which cannot be understood 
by those w^ho have been schooled from childhood, 
and have been reared to manhood by Christian par- 
ents and received good home-training. IsTone of 
these advantages had been mine. 'New York had no 
common-school law when I was a child, and there 
were no schools in the backgrounds then, where an 
all-wise and just Providence gave me my childhood 
existence. I had an older brother, who had been 
schooled before my parents moved into the new sec- 
tion where I began to think and act. That brother 
cut the letters of the alphabet with his penknife 
upon a pine shingle, and thus I learned my letters, 
and that was the humble beginning of my education. 
I soon learned the sound of the letters, and how to 
combine them so as to spell "ba, be, bi, bo, bu, by." 
That same brother, at a later period, secured for me 
the "American Spelling-book," and I learned to 
read its easy lessons, and during my minority be- 



26 AUTOBIOGEAPHY OF KeV. LuTHER LeE. 

came able to read tlie Bible and hymn book, to write 
a little, and to work in figures as far as division, 
and all this withont going to school. This, perhaps, 
was in advance of the average of my associates, for 
education was not within reach of the humble, and 
was not appreciated. When I was nineteen years 
old I remember to have been heartily laughed at, and 
even ridiculed, for my honest declaration that I 
meant yet, at some future period, to understand 
grammar. I nevertheless reached that goal in after 
years, and became critical in grammar, though I may 
have forgotten much of it in my old age. I have 
stated above the sum total of the education with 
which I opened my public life. Grammar was not 
just then within my reach, and much delay in prog- 
ress was caused by a want of knowing how to proceed 
to get knowledge. Books were not obtainable, had 
I known what books I needed. There came a young 
man from some place further east, and commenced 
clearing a piece of woodland to make him a home. 
He brought with him a copy of Murray's Grammar, 
and I purchased it, and paid for it by three days' 
hard work at chopping, and those three days' work 
in time made me rich in grammar. I have that old 
book still as a relic, and keep it for the good it did. 

During this time I kept preaching as well as I 
could, for there was enough to do, and the circuit 
preachers were so pressed that they were glad to avail 
themselves of any help within their reach, whom the 



My Caeeee as a Local Peeacher. 27 

people were willing to hear. So I struggled on 
until the spring of 1823, when I left that wild 
country, and, as it has proved, left it forever, for 
I have never been back; and now, finding myself 
in Michigan, in my eighty-first year, I am not likely 
to wander back to that far-off and rugged land 
of my boyhood and youth. My thoughts wander 
back, and powerful associations seem still to connect 
me with the home of my youth, and I have an ar- 
dent desire to look once more upon that transcend- 
ently sublime mountain scenery ; but it cannot be : I 
can only revel in memory of the last sight I had of 
that scenery when, fifty-eight years ago, I left old 
Delaware. On foot, with a pack on my back, con- 
taining all I o^vned on earth, I trudged in a north- 
westerly direction, and when I had reached the last 
summit that overlooked the scene behind me, I 
gazed for the last time upon those cloud-covered 
mountains and those deep ravines and valleys be- 
tween them. There, on those summits and along 
their rocky sides and in those valleys at their feet, 
I had gathered what thoughts I had, and had learned 
what of life I knew. Farewell, farewell forever! I 
may never look upon thy grand outline again ! 

I made my next stand in Plymouth, Chenango 
County, where I made my home most of the time 
for nearly two years and a half, during which I 
preached on the Sabbath a large share of the time, 
and sometimes filled the appointments of the circuit 



28 AUTOBIOGEAPHY OF ReY. LuTHER LeE. 

preacliers. Plymoutli was then embraced in Leba- 
non Circuit, Genesee Conference. Here I formed an 
acquaintance with Miss Mary Miller, the daughter of 
Mr. John Miller, and after an acquaintance of a little 
over two years Miss Miller became Mrs. Lee. The 
bride of my choice was the daughter of a respectable 
farmer, and had enjoyed fair school opportunities, 
wiiich she had well improved, and had acquired a 
good education for those times, and was engaged in 
school-teaching. I am not ashamed to say that from 
her I received some assistance in the further prosecu- 
tion of my studies, yet it was not long before I was 
the better general scholar, for I pressed on, while cir- 
cumstances compelled her to devote herseK to domes- 
tic interests — the kitchen and the nursery— and thus 
has she been compelled to spend a long time, for we 
have grown old since we were married ; for next July, 
1882, will bring the fifty-eighth anniversary of our 
wedding. We were married on July 31, 1825, and 
late in the following autumn we moved from Ply- 
mouth to Conquest, in Cayuga County. The moral 
atmosphere not pleasing me in Conquest, we re- 
moved to Victory, at the warm invitation of Method- 
ist friends. Victory was the central point on Victory 
Circuit, of the Genesee Conference, and there, for the 
first time in my life, I found myself surrounded by a 
strong Methodist community. Brothers Ayleworth 
and Jones were the preachers on the circuit at that 
time. They were good men and did what they could 



My Caeees as a Local Pkeacher. 29 

to encourage and assist me. Conference came, and 
they were removed, and others took their place. It 
was here in Yictory that I organized the first Sunday- 
school I ever saw. I gathered the children in the 
school-house, for the church was not yet built, and 
taught them as well as I knew how. I was for some 
time the superintendent and only teacher for twenty or 
thirty children. I believe this was the first Method- 
ist Sunday-school organized in that vicinity. It was 
in 1826. The subject was just beginning to be ag- 
itated, and I had the misfortune to be a little in ad- 
vance of public opinion, as occurred in regard to 
other subjects in after years, and I met with opposi- 
tion from a source from which I had least expected it. 

I met with no opposition from the parents of the 
children, who sustained me, but the second preacher 
on the charge entered a complaint against me to the 
presiding elder, the Kev. George Gary. The brother 
did not pretend that it was sin per se^ but that it was 
of too small consequence to justify me in neglecting 
to preach on the Sabbath. There were places which 
the circuit preachers could not supply and where my 
labors would be acceptable and useful, and to neglect 
such opportunities to teach the children, he insisted, 
was a wrong. Brother Gary was a good and a wise 
man, and we both agreed to submit the matter to his 
judgment. My defense was that, as a local preacher, 
in the absence of any local preacher's plan, I was at 
liberty to chose my own field of labor, and violated 



30 Autobiography of Kev. Luther Lee. 

no rule by devoting my labors to the children. It is 
enough to say I got my case, and went on with my 
school. 

Li 1827 I was recommended by the Quarterly Con- 
ference of Victory Circuit to the Genesee Annual 
Conference, and was received on trial after having 
preached as a local preacher for about six years. I 
have always regarded my recommendation in the 
circumstances one of the highest compliments ever 
paid m.e. I was living- in the center of the cir- 
cuit, and was well known, having preached in all the 
principal appointments. The recommendation was 
given without my asking for it, and voted in my ab- 
sence, as I did not attend the quarterly meeting; 
and it was accompanied by a resolution asking my 
appointment to the circuit as their next preacher. 
I was received, but the request for my appointment 
was disregarded, and I was sent to Malone Circuit, 
more than two hundred miles to the north-east, of 
which a more particular account will be given in the 
next chapter. 



The Opening of my Traveling Ministky. 31 



CHAPTEK V. 

The Opening of my Traveling Ministry, 

THE Conference at whicli I was received on trial 
was held at Wilkesbarre, in Pennsylvania, far to 
the South, and I lived on the extreme northern bor- 
der, so no preachers wonld pass me on their return 
from Conference to bring me word from Conference 
if I were rejected, and where appointed if received ; 
and the presiding elder into whose district I fell did 
not know me, nor where I resided, and consequently 
could not write to me ; so I had to wait, wait, wait. 
After the lapse of weeks the appointments came in 
the " Christian Advocate and Journal," which had 
been published a short time, and, a single copy being 
taken in my neighborhood, I learned my destiny at 
last. I was received and ajDpointed to Malone Cir- 
cuit. As stated in the preceding chapter, the Quar- 
terly Conference requested my appointment to Vic- 
tory Circuit as their next preacher, but that was 
overlooked, and I was sent hundreds of miles away. 

But where was Malone Circuit, was the next ques- 
tion to settle. I did not know, and I did not readily 
find any person that could tell me. At last I found 
a gentleman who told me that Malone was a vil- 
lage, the county town of Franklin County, far to 



32 Autobiography of Eey. Luther Lee. 

tlie nortli-east, where tlie surface of the country pre- 
sented a series of hemlock ridges and spruce swamps, 
and this was all the information I could obtain. Of 
course, it was prudent that I should find the circuit 
before attempting to move my family to it, and so 
I packed my portmanteau, bade my wife farewell 
until we should meet again, kissed the little one, 
mounted my horse, and was off in search of Malone 
Circuit. I pursued the main north-east road, and 
passed out of Cajaiga County into Oswego County, 
and through it into Jefferson County. On reaching 
the village of Adams I found that Saturday night 
had arrived there about the same time, and on in- 
quiry I found a good Methodist family, who re- 
ceived me kindly. 

The Kev. W. W. Rundell had been their preacher 
the past year, and he was appointed for the year to 
come, but had not returned from Conference, so they 
had no preaching. I announced myself as a Meth- 
odist preacher, on my way to Malone Circuit. I did 
not tell them I would be very willing to preach for 
them in return for my kind entertainment over the 
Sabbath, but I thought it ; yet I was not invited so to 
do. I was not slow to understand the reason. They 
were a young station, struggling for life under the 
very shadow of a large Presbyterian Church ; they 
knew nothing of me only what they saw, and that I 
vv^as but a boy, not more than twenty or twenty-one 
years old, and they dared not take the hazard of put- 



The Opei^-ing of my Trayeling Ministry. 33 

ting me in the pnlpit. They were simply mistaken 
in regard to my age, but the error did not arise so 
mnch from an imperfect judgment on their part, as 
from my appearance. I had a very young look, and 
no stranger would have believed me to be more than 
twenty or twenty-one at most. I did not blame 
them, but thought the time might come when Meth- 
odism would be willing to receive my services in 
Adams village. Just seven years from that time I 
was sent for to preach a sermon in defense of their 
common faith in that great two-story Presbyterian 
Church, and Methodists and Presbyterians heard me 
with gladness. 

On Monday morning I again mounted my horse, 
much refreshed, and renewed my search for Malone 
Circuit. I was told that I would probably find the 
presiding elder at "Watertown, about twelve miles on 
my way. This was the county seat of Jefferson 
County. So on I hastened to Watertown, and there 
I learned that the presiding elder was at Brownville, 
four miles north, down the Black Eiver. I pushed 
on to Brownville, and there I found the elder in the 
person of the Eev. Nathaniel Salsbury, quite a young 
man, just appointed to the district. He was a tall, 
well-formed man, with a keen, piercing black eye. 
which he fixed upon me when I told him who I was, 
as though he was looking through me to learn what 
there was in me. He was not a man to be controlled 
in his judgment altogether by outside appearance. 



Si AUTOBIOGEAPHY OF EeV. LuTHEE LeE. 

and I think lie did not place me quite as low in the 
grade of preachers as some other men might have 
done on sight. He received me very kindly, but he 
conld tell me nothing abont Malone Circuit, more 
than that it was still far to the north-east, as he was 
newly appointed to the district, and had never been 
in that part of the country. He expressed himself 
as veiy glad to see me on my way, and said he should 
have written to me had he kno^vn where to address 
me, and thereby prevented my suspense and una- 
voidable delay, and that he thought I had done well 
to get under way so soon as I had. The slightest 
encouragement did me good, for my heart was be- 
ginning to feel heavy within me. I declined his 
m-gent invitation to stop until after dinner and re- 
fresh myseK and horse, assuring him neither was in 
need, and that I was anxious to press forwai'd so as 
to reach my field of labor before the next Sabbath. 
He told me he would hold our first quarterly meet- 
ing in eight weeks from the following Saturday and 
Sabbath, and then dismissed me with his " May God 
bless you ! which put new spirit in me, and I dashed 
on in a long ride through what was known as the old 
military road, which was made duiing the war of 
1S12, from Sackett's Harbor to Ogdensbm-gh. I 
soon passed out of Jefferson County into St. Law- 
rence County, and on reaching Ogdensburgh I bore 
a little more to the south, and passed through Can- 
ton, the county seat of St. Lawrence County. Thence 



The Ope^^tn-Ct of -my TEAYELi]s'a MmsTP.Y. 35 



I passed tlirongh Pottsdam, Stocklioim, and so on 
until I found myseK in Franklin County, of which 
Malone was the county seat. Still I could hear noth- 
ing of Malone Circuit. By and by I inquired of a 
man by the way-side if he could give me any infor- 
mation in regard to Malone Circuit, or direct me to 
any of the Methodist preaching places in the vicinity. 
He rephed that he could not, but could direct me to 
the source of such information. " Go," said he, 
" four miles on this road, take the road leading north 
and go two miles, and you will find Judge Pierce, 
who is a Methodist, and he can tell you all about 
Malone Circuit." I dashed on with new courage, and 
even my horse appeared to catch the spirit, and the 
four miles were soon overcome, and I turned the 
corner, and the two miles were finished, and I 
brought up at the door of J udge Pierce. It was with 
peculiar emotions and a beating heart that I knocked 
at the door, the first door I had reached on my first 
circuit, and it was the door of a reputed judge, and, 
of course, a man of intelligence and standing. I had 
not been slow to learn that my appearance was 
against me, and that the first impressions I might 
make were likely to be unfavorable, but the ordeal 
must be passed. I knocked, and the judge himself 
came to the door, and, on my announcing myself as 
their new preacher, he gave me a heai-ty shake by 
the hand and a hearty welcome, and led me into his 
parlor, and introduced me to the Kev. J. M. Brooks, 



36 AUTOBIOGKAPHY OF KeV. LuTHER LeE. 

wlio had traveled the circuit the previous year, and 
was re-appointed preacher in charge for the present 
year, with whom and under whom I was to labor. 
It was fortunate that we had so opportunely met, and 
it was a pleasant termination of my long journey. 
After traveling more than two hundred miles through 
a strange country I had found Malone Circuit. 



Malone Cikcuit. 



37 



CHAPTER YI. 

Malone Circuit— Opening Scenes— State of the Churcli. 

EEY. BEOTHER BEOOKS received me cordi- 
ally and scanned me closely, but was not a man 
to be critical or very discriminating in his judgment. 
He was a good, honest man, but only a moderate 
preacher, and, of course, not the man of enterprise to 
push the banner of Methodism in the face of its foes, 
as had to be done in those days to make much prog- 
ress. We soon had things arranged for the year's 
campaign. A duphcate plan was made out, he taking 
one and giving me the other. It was a four-weeks' 
circuit, and each appointment had preaching once 
in two weeks, so it was arranged that I should fall 
back two weeks behind him, and commence work; 
and in this manner we swept around the circuit once 
in four weeks, and there being two of us, it gave 
the people preaching once in two weeks at each ap- 
pointment ; and it was so arranged that we should 
cross each other's path once in four weeks, and meet 
for a friendly greeting and consultation. In this 
way we labored together through the year in perfect 
harmony. 

After passing once round the circuit, arrangements 
were made for sending for my family, which was 



38 AUTOBIOGKAPHY OF EeV. LuTHER LeE. 

accomplished in due time, and I felt myself fully in- 
augurated as a traveling preacher. 

Malone Circuit at this time embraced the whole 
of Franklin County, with appointments on the east in 
Clinton County, and also on the west in St. Lawrence 
County, and some on the north in Lower Canada. 
On the south was an extensive vfilderness. It re- 
quired thirty sermons to go round the circuit and fill 
every appointment. This did not make Jack a mere 
toy, by all play and no work ; nor did it make me a 
dull boy, by all work and no play, for I had to keep 
myself and nag stepping lively to fill the bill. 

In the month of February I had the misfortune to 
lose my horse. This is worthy of notice, because it 
resulted in one of those kind interpositions of divine 
Providence which bring relief when faith is under 
extreme trial. I reached Fort Covington on Satur- 
day, where I was to preach on Sabbath, but v/as too 
sick to think of preaching the next day, and wished 
to reach home, which was about six miles distant, as 
soon as possible. Not being able to ride on horse- 
back, the friends instructed a young m.an to harness 
my horse into a cutter and drive me home. There 
having been a thaw and a very extreme cold, the 
roads were one glare of ice. The young man had 
failed to secure some part of the harness, which al- 
lowed the cutter to glide forward upon the horse's 
heels, and, starting with a fright, the young man held 
him too tightly by the bit which pressed the cutter 



Malone Circuit. 



39 



more severely against him, until he threw himself 
sideways, and broke his leg over the thill. Another 
horse was harnessed before the cutter, and I was tak- 
en home, not only sick in body but greatly troubled 
in mind. I could not command the funds to purchase 
another horse, the circuit, I knew, was too poor to 
give me one, and to prosecute my work on the circuit 
without a horse was simply impossible. Sick with a 
high fever, I lay with these troubles rushing through 
my burning brain, and could see no way of escape, no 
hope ; no light gleamed in upon me from any source, 
and it appeared, in the feverish wildness of my brain, 
that my mission was cut short by a sudden stroke of 
Providence. The reader will bear in mind that sick 
persons do not always reason soundly, do not see 
things in their clearest light, nor yet maintain their 
natural courage in its full force. What now appears 
to me to have been a little wild and still more weak, 
and may appear more so to the reader, was then to my 
fever-excited mind a solemn reahty ; all appeared lost. 

About the fourth day Esquire Parkhurst, from Fort 
Covington, was announced as wishing to see me. Mr. 
Parkhurst was a lawyer of high standing, a member 
of the Presbyterian Church, with whom I had formed 
a very slight acquaintance. On being introduced he 
took a seat by my bed-side, and after inquiring after 
my health, and learning the state of my disease, he 
inquired, in the most delicate manner, if I possessed 
the means of purchasing another horse. On being 



40 AUTOBIOGKAPHY OF ReV. LuTHEIi LeE. 

told that I did not, he said, " That troubles yon, and 
if you let it continue to trouble you, it will retard 
your recovery ; dismiss it from your mind, and think 
about your wide field of labor, and how soon, by God's 
blessing, you will be at your work again. Do not let 
the horse trouble you ; leave that to your friends un- 
til you need the horse, and, I trust, that will be but a 
few days. Good-morning.'' 

If God had sent his angel to encourage me I could 
hardly have experienced a more sensible relief. The 
character of the man, and his very kind and yet frank 
and earnest manner, assured me that he meant busi- 
ness ; and I took his advice, and, dismissing my dark 
forebodings, I patiently awaited results. Mr. Park- 
hurst went home and headed a subscription and cir- 
culated it among his friends, and then handed it over 
to leading Methodists in the place, who found no dif- 
ficulty in obtaining the additional amount necessary ; 
and when I was able to resume my labors, which was 
in about ten days, I had a horse brought to my door, 
as good as the one I had lost, and I felt very much 
like repeating the words of Cowper : 

" Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take : 
The clouds ye so much dread 
Are big with mercy, and shall break 
In blessings on your head. 

" Judge not the Lord by feeble sense, 
But trust him for his grace ; 
Behind a frowning providence 
He hides a smiling face. 



Malone Ciecuit. 



41 



Time moved on as it ever moves, yet then appeared 
to move slowly, and the year seemed very long ; yet 
it reached a close, as each successive year has since 
done. To this day, one round on that large circuit 
appears nearly as long as some full conference years 
have since done. 

In those days young men on trial did not attend 
the Conference until they were to be admitted into 
full membership. So, while Mr. Brooks left for Con- 
ference, I remained at my work on the circuit. As it 
was his second year on the charge the rule did not 
admit of his returning, and he knew he should be 
sent somewhere else. 

It was otherwise with me. I might be returned 
or sent I knew not where. I made a full round of 
the circuit before I got any word from Conference. 
"When news came I found myseK in charge of the 
circuit without a colleague. I comforted myself as 
best I could. If I remained on that hard circuit I 
was saved the labor and expense of moving, and, on 
the whole, I made myself believe it was for the best, 
and was satisfied. As no colleague was sent me from 
the Conference one had to be obtained, or the work 
must suffer ; and as the presiding elder had no man 
for me, with the consent of the Quarterly Conference 
I engaged a local preacher who resided on the circuit, 
a Brother Hines. My selection was fully justified by 
the after career of Brother Hines, as he afterward 
was received into Conference and labored successfully 



42 Autobiography of Eev. Luthek Lee. 

for a number of years, and then died in the faith and 
went to heaven. The district was divided, and the 
Bev. B. G. Paddock was appointed presiding elder of 
the new district, which gave me a new elder. I wish 
in tliis place to bear testimony to the ministerial and 
Christian character of Brother Paddock. I fonnd 
him a true friend and a worthy minister in every re- 
spect. A friendship sprung up between us which 
lasted to the day of his death. His friendship was 
not superficial. "When I left the Methodist Episcopal 
Church on account of slavery, while my old friends 
— and I had many — became my apparent foes, he 
never abated in his friendship, and when I finally left 
Northern New York, in 1864, though he had grown 
old, on hearing that I was about to depart for Michi- 
gan he taxed hiniseK with the travel of miles enough 
to prove any man's friendship to make us a last visit 
before we left. " The righteous shall be had in everlast- 
ing remembrance." The year passed with only usual 
incidents of an itinerant life, though an itinerant life 
was not then what it is now, as will more fully appear 
in the following chapter. We had some revival dur- 
ing the year, and some additions to the Church. 
Among the persons converted v/as a young man who 
in after years entered the ministry, and I believe is 
now laboring in California. What his career in the 
ministry has been I am unable to say, but his conver- 
sion was remarkable, and brought to light matters 
which left no doubt on the minds of saints, sinners. 



Malone Cikcuit. 



43 



or infidels tliat tlie work in liis case was genuine and 
tliorouo-li. 

It was a year of hard toil and appeared long, but 
its end was readied ; and I passed from my first field 
of labor, I believe, w^itli the friendship and good 
wishes of all who were friends of Methodism. It is 
true they did but little for me by way of material 
support, but then they were poor, and many made 
more sacrifice to pay what they did than men do now 
wlio pay their tens, fifties, and hundreds. I received 
one hundred dollars for my services the second year. 
But they had warm hearts, and but few if any ever 
forgot the boy preacher, as they all thought me on 
sight, who served them for the years 1827 and 1S2S. 
Those early friends have nearly all gone before me to 
the land of rest. A gentleman of Malone village, 
about four years ago, on seeing an article from my 
pen in the " Northern Christian Advocate,'' wrote to 
me to inquire if I was the person who traveled Ma- 
lone Circuit so many years ago. He said he was then 
a small boy, but remembered me, as I kept my horse 
in his father's barn. After speaking of the growth 
of the place and the Church, he added : " If you 
should now return to Malone, among the numerous 
membership of the Church you would not find one 
who was a member when you preached there." 

I left Malone Circuit never to return to that field 
of labor, or to any part of it, for now there are many 
pastoral charges within its ancient limits. I once 



44 Autobiography of Rey. Luther Lee. 

passed throiigli it in one of my antislavery missions, 
and later I flew tlirongh it on the railroad, a thing 
nnthonght of when I traveled there. A few years 
after leaving the circnit I attended a camp-meeting a 
little sonth of Malone village, which was attended by 
good results. During this meeting I witnessed a very 
extraordinary case, which is worthy of record. A 
brawling infidel was swaggering abont the ground, 
boasting of his disbelief in the existence of a God. 
When reproved for his unseemly conduct in such a 
j)lace he even defied God, and defiantly said, " If there 
be a God let him speak and convince me." He was 
told that God had spoken in his word and through 
nature, and that he refused to see and hear ; he was 
like a man who should stop his ears and shut his eyes, 
or put them out, and then deny the existence of sound 
and light. He replied, " Then let God touch me and 
make me feel his power ; if he will knock me down 
without hands I will believe that he is." A few 
moments later, as he was passing in front of the 
preachers' stand, he fell as suddenly as though he had 
been knocked down with a blacksmith's hammer, and 
lay helpless for some two or three hours, and finally 
revived in great agony, from which he professed to 
obtain relief by the forgiveness of his sins through 
faith in Christ. Of his after life I cannot speak, as I 
know nothing of his subsequent history. 



Amusing Anecdotes. 



45 



CHAPTEE VII. 

Amusing Anecdotes— Religious Warfare. 

IT was remarked in a preceding chapter that I had 
a very youthful appearance until I was thirty 
years old. This very boyish look deceived many on 
first sight, and betrayed some into mortifying mis- 
takes. 

In my first round on the circuit I every-where 
looked upon the faces of strangers ; not a soul did I 
meet whom I had ever before seen or heard of, and, of 
course, there were none who knew me. At a number 
of appointments I could not reach the place before 
the hour of preaching, and my first introduction was 
a sermon, and our interchange of recognition came 
after meeting. All knew they were to hear their 
new preacher, and yet some were so obtuse as not 
to recognize him in my person until I rose with open 
hymn book in hand to begin the service. At one 
appointment, arriving while the people were collect- 
ing, I hitched my horse, and, taking my hymn book 
and Bible from my portmanteau, I left it on my 
horse, so that those in the house did not see my in- 
signia of oflfice. I walked into the school-house and 
seated myself in the only chair, which the preacher 
usually occupied. A good old sister approached me 



46 AUTOBIOGEAPIIY OF ReY. LrTHER LeE. 

and kindly wliispered in my ear that that was the 
preacher's chair. I was a little nonplussed for the 
moment, but rallied and told the good old lady I was 
weary, having come many miles, and would occupy 
the chair until the preacher came in, when I would 
abdicate in his favor. The old lady's movement had 
been noticed by many or all in the house at the time, 
some of whom, at least, understood the good sister 
v/as sold. There was sharp looking at the old lady a 
few moments later when I rose and commenced the 
service by announcing my first hymn, and she looked 
any thing but satisfaction with herself. The public 
service ended, and a warm class-meeting led by the 
preacher was brought to a close ; a hearty shaking of 
hands followed. Among the many greetings the new 
preacher received, those of the good old lady were 
not wanting, who came up with more apologies than 
I could consent to hear ; thanking her for the interest 
she had manifested in the new preacher before she 
knew him, I assured her that she had only acted the 
part of a true friend, and shown herself a heroine for 
the cause. 

At Malone another little scene occurred. This was 
a Sabbath appointment. There was no meeting- 
house in the place, and the court-house was occupied 
on Sunday as a church. The Presbyterians occupied 
it two Sabbaths, the Baptists one, and the Methodists 
one. The other Sabbath the Methodist preached in 
an old building known as " the old academy." As 



Amusixg Axecdotes. 



47 



the preaclier in charge occupied the court-house, I 
had to preach in the old academy. I preached on 
Saturday about three miles out of town, and rode 
in on Sunday morning, and went directly to the 
place of meeting. There was no desk or platform 
for the speaker, and I seated myself where it ap- 
peared suitable to me. I soon found myself sur- 
rounded by persons who appeared anxious about the 
new preacher. 

It was not time to begin the service, and the peo- 
ple were collecting, and all watching anxiously for the 
arrival of the preacher. An inquiry was commenced 
around me if any one had seen or heard of the 
preacher. It was known that he was on the circuit, 
but no one had seen him or heard of his arrival in the 
village, and fears began to be expressed. I allowed 
my eyes occasionally to glance over the collecting 
congregation, and noted a person in a remote part of 
the house with his keen, piercing eye fixed upon me, 
who soon turned upon those that were making in- 
quiries for the preacher around me, as though he 
would look something into them ; but his looks did 
not take, and they talked on. As no one spoke to 
me, I did not feel called upon to announce myself as 
the preacher until it was time to commence the 
service. At the proper time I rose and gave out a 
hymn, as usual, and proceeded with the service. There 
was not a soul present I had ever seen before, and 
when the service was closed, we had a general intro- 



48 AUTOBIOGEAPHY OF ReV. LuTHER LeE. 

duction and shaking of liands. The individnal in the 
remote part of the house, who tried in vain to look 
into the minds of his friends around me the fact that 
the preacher was among them, proved to be an intel- 
ligent and worthy local preacher, by the name of Pad- 
dock. He became my friend and shared his house 
with me the second year I traveled the circuit, for we 
had no parsonages in those days. He told me that he 
knew I was the preacher the moment I entered the 
house. In answer to my question, how he knew I was 
the preacher, he said, " I was looking for the preacher 
in the person of a stranger, and I knew you were a 
stranger, for I know all who ever attend our meeting. 
I had heard the preacher was a young man, and you 
appeared young enough to fill the bill. Moreover, 
w^hen you entered you surveyed the room with a 
glance of your eye, preparatory to selecting your seat, 
as none but a preacher would do.^' 

My verdant looks troubled me, or troubled others 
for some years, and once came near costing me a 
night's sound sleep. At the end of my third year I 
attended Conference at Utica, and was sent for enter- 
tainment during the session to a respectable farm- 
house just on the border of the city. Late at night, 
after all in the house were under the dominion of Mor- 
pheus save the good old lady, a brother minister 
called, on his arrival at the seat of the Conference. 
Being acquainted in the family, he called rather than 
to go into the city at so late an hour. The good old 



Amusing Anecdotes. 



49 



lady was in what she thought was a bad plight, as she 
had not an empty bed. But a bright thought oc- 
curred to her. She told the brother her son was in a 
bed by himself in the garret^ and there was a boy in 
one of her beds below whom she would call up and 
send him up to the garret with her son, and thus 
make a place for him. The brother inquired if the 
boy was attending the Conference. She said she be- 
lieved he was, for he had been sent there to board. 

Do you know his name ? " he inquired. I believe 
some of the other preachers call him Brother Lee," 
was the old lady's answer. It then flashed upon his 
mind who the boy was, and with much difficulty he 
persuaded the good old saint to let him lodge in the 
garret with her son. The next morning, at the break- 
fast table, the brother, who had enjoyed a good night's 
rest in the garret, raised the question of the ages of 
the company, when it came out that I was four years 
older than himself and two years older in the minis- 
try. The first information I received of what had 
transpired the evening before was given me by the 
apology which the old lady attempted to make on 
hearing our respective ages. The brother appeared 
to enjoy the joke at the old lady's expense, and some- 
what at my expense, for I felt chagrined for the old 
lady's sake, who appeared to think the mistake she 
had made almost an unpardonable one. 

Ko class of persons felt more keenly the mistake of 

taking me to be a boy than religious opponents, who 
4 



50 AUTOBIOGEAPHY OF EeY. LuTIIER LeE. 

were brave to attack a supposed defenseless boy, while 
tliey would have declined a battle with gray hairs. 
That was an age of religious controversy and doctrinal 
preaching, and crimination and recrimination were 
the order of the times. There were no meeting- 
houses in the country, not one in the county, when I 
entered upon Malone Circuit, and only one in process 
of building. There were but few settled pastors, and 
the different denominations alternately occupied the 
school-houses, and largely attended each other's meet- 
ings, as there was seldom more than one meeting at 
the same hour in the same place. The members of 
the several denominations would report to their 
preaclier what had been said against their doctrine, 
and a reply would be hurled back, and a constant re- 
ligious warfare was maintained. It was so to a large 
extent every-where, but more especially in new re- 
gions, where social and religious relations were unset- 
tled, but in the process of being formed. 

That part of 'New York State was settled largely 
from the States of Vermont and New Hampshire, where 
at that time Congregationalists and Baptists were 
more numerous than Methodists, which gave a large 
preponderance against Methodism in the new settle- 
ments. The Congregationalists, on coming into New 
York, affiliated with the Presbyterians, and were 
usually the strongest party. The Methodists were the 
newer and weaker Church, and were most strenuously 
opposed as dangerous heretics, and had to contend for 



Religious Warfare. 



51 



every inch of ground they took and held. Experi- 
enced and able Methodist preachers were not sent to 
that extreme border; indeed, the men could not be 
found to supply the work, and such border sections 
had to accept of such as were left after the older and 
more important portions of the work were supplied. 
Methodism had suffered for want of men of ability, 
experience, and weight of character, to defend her 
doctrines and usages, and to teach her over-confident 
assailants to be more cautious in their assaults. The 
brethren had felt their need, and had been praying to 
God to send them a man that could stand up in the pres- 
ence of their opposers. When I made my appearance 
among them I was taken to be any thing but the man 
they had been praying for; indeed, I had not yet 
reached manhood in their estimation ; I was only a 
boy. l^ow there were giants in that land, experienced 
ministers of other denominations, who had defied the 
armies of Methodism, and made free to attack them 
wherever and whenever they saw an opportunity. 

The brethren received me kindly, but could not 
conceal their anxiety in regard to my success. They 
informed me of the opposition which I must ex- 
pect to meet, and cautioned me against one man in 
particular, who was said to be an experienced and 
able controversiahst, and who had attacked every 
Methodist preacher who came in his way. I was ad- 
vised to keep clear of him. 

I cannot say that these things did not disturb me, 



52 AuTOBioaKAPHY OF Rev. Luther Lee. 

and arouse sometliing like a war spirit in me, but I 
tliouglit and felt more than I said. I told tliem I 
came with the message of peace and good-will toward 
all men, and should attack no one, and should give no 
one an occasion to attack me ; but I had come to preach 
the Gospel as understood by the Methodist Episcopal 
Church, and if any one saw fit to attack me or my 
doctrine, I should defend myself to the best of my 
ability. They coald do no less than to approve of my 
proposed course, yet they clearly feared for the result. 
JSTor do I say their fears were a proof of weakness, 
for appearances were against them, and were largely 
supported by their past experience. But they rallied 
around me for the fight, for they saw more clearly 
than I did that there must be a fight. It was decided 
that I should locate my family at a place called Bom- 
bay. In a short time the son of Anak against whom 
I had been especially warned made an appointment 
to preach of a Wednesday evening. Being unengaged 
I went to hear him, hoping to be an unnoticed hearer. 
But some of his friends knew me, and informed him 
of my presence, and he urged me forward, and having 
seated me in the little desk, stood outside himself, so 
as to be able to turn round and preach in my face. 

He took for his text Titus iii, 14 : " And let ours 
also learn to maintain good works for necessary uses." 

A principal point in his sermon was to show the 
necessary uses of good works. This he did negatively 
and afiirmatively. ITegatively : 



Eeligious AVarfare. 



53 



" 1. Good works are not necessary to make Chris- 
tians of us. No man can make a Christian of himself 
by good works. A man must be a Christian before 
he can perform any good works. 

" 2. Good works are not necessary to induce God 
to have mercy upon us. God will not have mercy 
upon us on account of any works we can perform. 
The truth is, God must first have mercy upon us, and 
forgive our sins, and change our hearts, before we can 
perform one good act acceptable to God." 

" But," said the preacher, " you will ask me, ' Can I 
not pray and can I not go to meeting before I am 
converted?' 1 answer, No, not acceptably to God. 
All your praying and all your going to meeting before 
God renews your heart will only sink you deeper in 
hell." 

Having preached the above, and much more like it, 
in my face, in the most impudent manner, he had the 
audacity to ask me to make any remarks I might feel 
disposed to ofier. To say nothing in such circum- 
stances, after being invited to speak, would be regard- 
ed as evidence of cowardice or conscious weakness ; 
and to speak without replying to the assault would 
be understood as a confession of my inability to reply. 
There was nothing for me to do but to submit to a 
defeat without striking a blow, or unsheath my sword 
and take the hazard of a fight with an acknowledged 
giant. I was neither studied in the technical theology 
involved nor in the tactics of debate, and had no plan 



64 Autobiography of Eev. Luther Lee. 



of battle, but circumstances compelled me to unmask 
my battery and expose my front, and I did it as au- 
daciously as lie had made the assault. It was no time 
to falter, or even show signs of trepidation, though I 
felt to tremble in every limb. The friends of both 
w^ere present, and anxiously waiting the results, and I 
must show a bold front to the foe. It was raining, 
and the roads were muddy, yet there was a full house. 
I rose and remarked, " I deeply sympathize with the 
unconverted portion of the congregation, who have 
exposed themselves in coming through rain and mud 
to be told that your coming will only sink you deeper 
in hell. As a friend I would advise all who beheve 
the doctrine, if any such there are, to go home and 
stay there until God comes with his irresistible power 
and converts you, and then, and not till then, do you 
pray and come to meeting." 

Having delivered this brief speech, I resumed my 
seat, when the preacher turned to me and said, " I 
should like to ask the brother a few questions." 

I responded that I would answer him any question 
he might be disposed to ask if I could, and if I could 
not answer I would say so after I had heard his 
question. 

He asked, " Do you believe a bad fountain can 
send out sweet water ? " 

My answer was prompt, " l^"o, sir." 

He then asked, " Do you believe a bad tree can 
bear good fruit ? " 



EeLIGIOUS WaPvFAKE. 



55 



" Ko, sir," was my ready answer. 

He then inquired, " Do you believe the human 
heart is depraved ? " 

I answered by an emphatic " Yes, sir." 

He then summed up as follows : 

" If a bad fountain cannot send out sweet water, 
and if a bad tree cannot bear good fruit, if the hu- 
man heart is depraved, it must be as a bad fountain 
and as a bad tree ; how, then, can it bring forth any 
good works acceptable to God ? " 

It was evident he and his friends were enjoying a 
fancied triumph, while the faces of my friends wore 
an expression of doubt and anxiety. It was an anx- 
ious moment with them. I rose with much apparent 
coolness, much more than I really felt, and remarked 
as follows : 

" I suppose I believe in the depravity of the human 
heart as strongly as my brother does. I believe that 
men are so depraved through the fall that if they 
were left wholly without grace, and without divine 
influence, they would never perform a good act, or 
even think a good thought acceptable to God ; but 
such is not man's condition. God, having given his 
Son to redeem sinners, he now moves them by his 
truth and Spirit to repentance and good works ; and 
when sinners, under this divine influence, pray and 
go to meeting as a duty, and as a means of seeking 
God, such acts are not the fruit of the depravity of 
the heart, but the fruit of God's truth and Spirit 



56 Autobiography of Key. Luther Lee. 

working in tliem, and are acceptable to God as from 
a repenting sinner." 

As I resumed my seat tlie preaclier turned to tlie 
congregation and said, " We will be dismissed/' and 
pronounced the benediction. 

The first battle was ended, and I had the satisfac- 
tion of knowing that I was not vanquished. My 
friends also took heart. My opponent, however, was 
not satisfied, as afterward appeared, for he sought an 
occasion to attack me again at another place. He 
resided at Fort CoYington, where I also preached 
once in four weeks on the Sabbath. I conducted a 
prayer-meeting with the brethren in the afternoon at 
an hour when I had no appointment to preach, and 
he came into my prayer-meeting and made his as- 
sault. It was so ordered that there were present 
some very respectable persons who did not belong to 
either Church. This was favorable to me, as it fur- 
nished witnesses of the unprovoked assault which he 
made upon me, and of the result. I had given out a 
hymn commencing 

" Prayer is appointed to convey 

The blessings God designs to give : 
Long as they live should Christians pray ; 

They learn to pray when first they live." 

He seized upon the last line as teaching his doc- 
trine, that men cannot pray or perform any good 
works until they are converted. " They learn to 
pray when first they live," he insisted, was a confes- 



Eeligious Wakfake. 



57 



sion that tliey did not know how to pray until they 
did live ; that is, live the new life by a renewal by 
God's Spirit, and consequently they could not pray 
acceptably to God before conversion. 

This attack was made at the moment I pronounced 
the meeting closed, and the people all stopped to wit- 
ness the result. I remarked that I thought the hymn 
a very good one, and that it was true, as a general 
principle, that men did not commence a life of 
prayer before conversion, yet I did not hold myself 
responsible for every doctrine which ingenuity might 
extort from each poetic expression. I depended 
upon my Bible for my theology, and it spake very 
clearly on the subject. ""We read, ^Ask, and it shall 
be given you ; seek, and ye shall find ; knock, and it 
shall be opened unto you.' Tour theory would 
make it read, ' It shall be given you, and then ye 
shall ask ; ye shall find, and then ye shall seek ; it 
shall be opened unto you, and then ye shall knock.' " 

He replied, " The text you quote does not relate 
to sinners in their unrenewed state, but to Christians 
who ask in order to receive, and seek that they may 
find the blessings they need ; but a sinner cannot ask 
until he has faith, and then he is a Christian, and can 
pray." 

I rejoined, " I have no doubt Christians may claim 
the promise of the text, but I think it also includes 
sinners ; it is not restricted to any class, and hence it 
is said to every man, saint and sinner, 'Ask, and it 



5S AUTOBIOGKAPHY OF EeV. LuTIIEK LeE. 

sliall be given you ; seek, and ye shall find and it is 
true of sinners : those who ask do obtain, and those 
who seek do find, while none receive who do not ask, 
and none find who do not seek. According to your 
theory, that sinners can do nothing to aid their salva- 
tion before God converts them, they are not to blame 
for not praying, it is not their fault that they are not 
Christians. How can they be at fault, according to 
your doctrine, until God comes in his irresistible 
power and converts them ? I am here to tell sinners 
to repent ; you are here, according to your own con- 
fession, to tell sinners they cannot repent or pray 
imtil God sees fit to change their hearts by his own 
sovereign act, without any condition or action on 
their part moving him thereto. I submit it to the 
candid, which position is most in accordance with the 
Gospel of Christ, yours or mine ? " 

He clearly began to feel the embarrassment of his 
position under my last sally, and sought to extricate 
himseK by seemingly coming back to gospel ground. 
He answered that, 

" Sinners are guilty because God commands them 
to repent and believe, and they refuse. It is their 
own fault that they do not obey God. I preach to 
sinners that they ought to repent and believe in 
Christ, and that they will be justly damiued if they 
do not." 

Unskilled as I was in debate, and though much 
excited, I saw at a glance where the weakness of his 



Religious Warfare. 



59 



position lay, and assailed it directly by what I have 
since learned logicians call argumentum ad hominem. 
I replied : 

" I know yon preach that sinners ought to repent, 
but you also preach that they never do and never 
can repent or pray until God does for them what he 
has not yet done, and what is in no sense conditioned 
upon any thing they can do. I preach to sinners 
that they can repent and believe, and you stand up 
here before these persons and dispute it. I tell sin- 
ners they ought to pray, and to begin now; that 
^ whosoever calleth upon the name of the Lord shall 
be saved and you confront me and affirm that they 
cannot call upon the name of the Lord until they are 
saved. I ask you the question, Can sinners repent, 
or can they not repent ? That these listeners may 
understand our respective positions, please give a 
plain answer, yes or no.'' 

He replied, " They could if they would." 

I demanded, " Can they will to repent ? " 

He replied, " They would if they could." 

Beyond this he would not venture, " They would 
if they could," and " They could if they would." 

When I saw I could not drive him from this con- 
temptible quibbling, I met it directly by saying, 
" Sinners can repent, or they cannot ; if they cannot, 
you are wrong when you say they could if they 
would ; and if they can repent, you are wrong when 
you say they could if they would. To say they could 



60 AUTOBIOGKAPHY OF EeY. LuTHEE LeE. 

if they would implies that they can repent, and to 
say they would if they could imphes that they cannot 
repent. Thus you contradict yourself every time 
you shift from one position to the other; both of 
your positions cannot be true. The predicament in 
Avhich you place sinners reminds me of a man vrho 
said, ' If I were to bring up another family of chil- 
dren, I would bring them up to do as they have a 
mind to, for mine are so contrary they will not.' " At 
this the people laughed, and my assailant started for 
the door, and was heard to mutter as he went out, 
It is easier to laugh at an argument than it is to an- 
swer it." The good man never attacked me after this. 

The above must suffice for the present on the score 
of rehgious warfare, and I will close this protracted 
chapter by saying that, owing to the force of circum- 
stances, and the w^ant of older and more experienced 
men, without seeking or desiring it, I soon found 
myself the standard-bearer and champion of Meth- 
odism in all that border section. I knew as well as 
any one my unfitness for the position, but what could 
I do ? The cause needed a defender, and there ap- 
peared no one more available, and friends urged me 
on. I had three qualifications, zeal, courage, and 
almighty confidence in the truth of Methodist doc- 
trines ; and I accepted the situation and did the best I 
could. And in the process of defending the truth I 
soon found it to be bad policy to parry all the blows 
and give none, and so I drew the sword, and threw 



Eeligious Vv^aefake. 



61 



away the scabbard, and have never been back to pick 
it up. 

When I appeared as the standard-bearer of Meth- 
odism, the Universalists, in particular, appeared anx- 
ious to test the temper of my steel, and challenge 
followed challenge ; I accepted each, but gave none. 
These debates will be noticed in their chronological 
order. I believe that I have been misunderstood in 
that I have been regarded and represented by many 
as belhgerent, fond of strife and debate. I have 
been much engaged in controversy, but I believe it 
has resulted more from the force of circumstances 
and an honest love of truth, than from a love of 
debate. As mnch as I have been engaged in contro- 
versy, I never gave a challenge, and never accepted 
one except when the proposed question involved some 
fundamental truth. It will now be admitted that in 
my frequent and earnest debates on the question of 
slavery, I was on the right side of the question. 



G2 AuTOEIOGEAPIiY OF EeV. LuTHEIi LeE. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

My First Attendance at Conference— Examination — Opposi-* 
tion and. Reception— The Hand of Providence in it— Bish- 
op Roberts — The Conference. 

IN those days young men did not attend Confer- 
ence until they had traveled two years. That 
probation with me was now ended^ and I was eligi- 
ble to reception into full connection, and must appear 
and be examined. Conference was to meet at Caze- 
novia, Madison County, E". Y. This place was only 
a moderate day's drive from my wife's parents', in 
Plymouth, Chenango County. As she had not seen 
them for four years, since I took her from her home, 
we were very anxious to make them a visit in con- 
nection with the Conference. "We started with our 
two children, and had accomplished about sixty miles 
of our journey of more than two hundred, when my 
horse took fright and made such a frightful leap as 
to hurl the carriage upside down so suddenly that 
one could not realize how it was done. My wife and 
the youngest child were thrown some distance, and 
myself and the oldest child were under the carriage. 
My first discovery was that I was lying upon the 
ground with a weight upon me, which I attempted 
in vain to throw off. At this moment the child 
made an outcry by my side, and it appeared to me 



My First Attendance at Coneerence. 63 



that the end of the axle-tree of the carriage had 
pierced her bowels with the whole weight of the 
concern, which, if true, would have been fatal. This 
state of things nerved me with more than usual 
strength, and the carriage ujDon me became as hght 
as a puffball, and I extricated myself and child in an 
instant. I saw at a glance the child was uninjured, 
the axle-tree had struck two inches too low to do the 
work of death, and had passed between her limbs. 
As quick as thought could act my attention was now 
turned to my wife and the other child. The child 
was uninjured, but my wife was severely hurt. I 
picked up the child and attempted to assist my wife 
to rise, which at first she failed to do. At this mo- 
ment two women from a house opposite, who had 
witnessed the catastrophe, came to my assistance. 
My wife finally rose with assistance, and was taken 
in charge by one of them and helped to the house. 
The other took the child from my arms, and then, 
for the first time, I turned my attention to my horse, 
for up to this time not a single thought had occurred 
to me concerning him. He was a powerful and very 
spirited animal, and the moment I thought of him 
every nerve was startled in a new direction. The car- 
riage was a borrowed one, and my horse was my only 
worldly estate essential in my calling. On turning 
my attention to my horse I found him lying upon his 
back between the thills of the carriage, his feet ex- 
tending upward, unable to get a hoof to the ground. 



64 AUTOBIOGEAPHY OF KeY. LuTHER LeE. 

The carriage must liave turned over with such 
force, and the thills taking him in his leap when not 
a foot was on the ground, just turned him upside 
down, and left him helpless. Such was his spirit and 
power, that could he have got his feet under him the 
carriage would have been torn to pieces, and myself 
and the child would, probably, have been mangled 
under it. As it was, the carriage was not materially 
injured and all escaped unharmed, except my poor 
wife, who was badly injured. Our journey was at 
an end ; a passing doctor was soon called in ; a dislo- 
cated knee-pan was set right, and all was done that 
skill could accomplish ; and after a few days I was 
able to remove her back to Canton, where she could 
be cared for in a kind family while I attended Con- 
ference. The disapj)ointment was very great, espe- 
cially to my wife, who had anticipated great joy in 
visiting her father's house after an absence of four 
years, during which she had dwelt among strangers. 
The hour seemed dark : one of the darkest clouds 
hung over us that ever shrouded the providence of 
God. There was not only the disappointment, but 
the severe injury which my wife had received ; and 
then it appeared necessary I should attend the Con- 
ference, to do which I must leave her, in her dam- 
aged condition, to be cared for among strangers. My 
presiding elder, Eev. B. G. Paddock, who resided in 
the vicinity, and whom I had seen by the way, came 
promptly to my assistance on hearing of my calamity. 



My Fikst Attend A^^^CE at Coxfeeence. 65 

lie advised me to place my wife and cliildren in tlie 
care of a kind family he named — his brother-in-law and 
wife's sister, by the name of Fish — and to go on to 
Conference with him, it not being necessary to start 
under a week, by which time my wife would be much 
improved. His wise counsel was followed, and the 
dark dispensation soon began to brighten up, and it 
proved the turning-point and gave direction to a life- 
long career. But for that calamity, so dark and op- 
pressive for the hour, these pages would never have 
been written, I should not have been what I liave 
been, and the world would never have heard of Lu- 
ther Lee. This has ever been perfectly plain to my- 
self, and I will now, for the first time, exj^lain it to 
others. 

I had come from within the bounds of the New 
York Conference, and had but very limited acquaint- 
ance outside of Victory Circuit, from which I had 
been recommended. The Genesee Conference had 
been divided, and I was on my way to the first ses- 
sion of the Oneida Conference ; and I was almost 
entirely unknown to the members of the new Con- 
ference, within the bounds of which I had fallen by 
the division. Also I had been laboring for two years 
on an extreme border charge, far removed from neigh- 
bors, and had not been visited or made a visit to any 
other charge during my two years on trial. On my 
way I met the presiding elder, as stated above, who 

urged me to delay my journey a week and attend a 
5 



66 Autobiography of Rey. Luther Lee. 

camp-meeting to be held in Gouvernenr, declaring 
that he expected to be short of laborers, and that my 
services would be greatly needed. He finally tried 
to hire me to stop, offering me money for my serv- 
ices, supposing, probably, that as I had been on a 
poor charge for two years money might tempt me. 
I resisted all persuasion and pressed on. I could 
have stopped without much self-denial, but I could 
not disappoint my wife, for had I complied I could 
not have taken her home until after Conference, 
whereas our plan was that she should visit during 
Conference. I had not gone more than eight or ten 
miles, after leaving the elder, when my journey was 
brought to a sudden close by the disaster before de- 
scribed. This threw me back upon the elder's hands 
for his camp-meeting. I preached three times during 
the meeting, and was listened to by the elder and all 
the other preachers present, not one of whom had 
ever heard me before. After the meeting we all 
journeyed on toward Conference, and on reaching 
Lowville, in Lewis County, we found another camp- 
meeting in session. This was a large meeting, and a 
large number of preachers had reached the place on 
their way to Conference. Here I was again called 
upon to preach, and, as it afterward appeared, by the 
help of God I made a favorable and strong impres- 
sion on the minds of all the preachers present. 

We went on to Conference, and I appeared before 
the committee of examination, but could sustain no 



My First ATTE]s^DAiq-cE at Confere^^ce 67 

examination save on the score of common sense in the- 
ology, grammar, and geography. Indeed I had no 
books for the study of any other branches. The com- 
mittee reported me deficient, and made a most deter- 
mined effort to prevent my being received into full 
connection, and, I have no doubt, would have suc- 
ceeded if no other members had known me better 
than they did. As it was, my preaching at the two 
camp-meetings saved me, for every preacher who had 
heard me rose up for me with as strong a determi- 
nation to bring me into Conference as the committee 
had to keep me out ; and the result was I was re- 
ceived by a decisive majority. If it had not been for 
my misfortune I should not have attended those 
camp-meetings, and if I had not attended those camp- 
meetings I should not have been received ; and if I 
had not been received I should have given up the 
idea of being a traveling minister and returned to my 
secular calling. But why would I have given up the 
idea of being a traveling minister ? The answer is, I 
should have been in just that state of mind to have 
done it. I should have been utterly discouraged. 

1. I knew my own deficiencies as well as others 
could and better than the committee who opposed 
me, and felt their attack as apparently just, though 
without my fault. 

2. I had done the best I could during my two years 
on Malone Circuit, and had done as well, I believed, 
as any person would have done in my circumstances. 



68 AUTOBIOGEAPHY OF ReV. LuTHEE LeE, 

I had been brave, industrious, and successful in sus- 
taining the interests of the circuit, and had studied 
my sermons and my grammar, and whatever else I 
had studied, largely on horseback ; and then to have 
been rejected because I had not learned more would 
have destroyed my last hope of success. 

3. I had labored two years on a very hard circuit 
faithfully and uncomplainingly, and had received to 
meet my wants, including all my expenses, only one 
h undred and ninety-five dollars. This was but a poor 
show for future life, with a growing family on my 
hands. I do not say my friends who pleaded my 
case in Conference would not have persuaded me to 
continue and try again, but I think they would not 
have succeeded ; and I have always believed that the 
upsetting of my carriage determined my course of 
life, but for which I should never have been known 
beyond the circle of an ordinary mechanic. 

Received into the Conference by a decisive major- 
ity, as I was, the opposition with which I met only 
served to rouse me to greater exertion, and I deter- 
mined to roll off the reproach, and before I returned 
to my border field of labor, from my limited means I 
purchased a ISTatural Philosophy, a Rhetoric, Buck's. 
"Theological Dictionary," and a few other useful 
books, which could not have been obtained in that 
out-of-the-way place in those early times, and the use 
I made of them my subsequent record, perhaps, is the 
best witness. 



Mr First Attexdaxce at Coxfeeence. 69 

Bishop Roberts presided at the first session of the 
Oneida Conference, by whom I was ordained a dea- 
con. The Bishop preached a very moving sermon on 
Sunday morning, at the conchision of which the 
deacons were ordained. The Bishop took for his 
text 2 Cor. v, 20 : " N'ow then v/e are embassadors 
for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us : we 
pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God.' 
I took no notes, but I remember something of an out- 
line of his sermon through the many stirring and 
noisy years that have since elapsed. In closing up 
his appeal he cried out, " God never made me a son 
of thunder, nor of fire, but he has sometimes made 
me a man of tears. Gather up here, sinners, that I 
may weep over you." The Bishop was then an old 
man, and he never after visited the State of New 
York. He was not a profound man, but he was a 
good man, full of zeal, and eloquent of speech. I 
was young then, and am now older than he then was, 
yet the impression of his sermon still abides upon my 
heart. 

In the afternoon the venerable Abner Chase 
preached before the ordination of the elders. He, 
too, was then an old man, but there was great power 
in his preaching. I never met him again, as he was 
a member of the Genesee Conference and passed 
away before I visited that Conference, as I did in 
after years. 

In those days the Conference sat with closed doors, 



70 AUTOBIOGEAPHY OF EeY. LATHER LeE. 

and no preacher knew where he was going until the 
appointments were officially announced by a public 
reading. Of course, most of the preachers occupied 
the anxious seat during the last session. I had but 
little solicitude, as I expected to be sent back into 
that north country, and I felt sure there was not a 
harder circuit there than I had traveled for the last 
two years ; so I felt safe. 

The end was finally reached, the appointments were 
read, and undivided attention Vvas given to the an- 
nouncements made from the now open book of des- 
tiny. Last on the list came " Potsdam District, B. G. 
Paddock, Presiding Elder." "All right," I said to 
myseK, "no change of elder." On went the read- 
ing, until I heard, " "Waddington, Luther Lee, Albon 
Smith." My fate stood revealed, and I was all ani- 
mation to dash away to meet my new responsibili- 
ties. I had taken my first lesson at Conference, and 
thought I had learned something which I could use- 
fully apply. 



Waddington Ciecuit. 



71 



CHAPTER IX. 

Waddington Circuit— A Struggle in reaching it— Opening ] 
Scenes— Incidents— A Successful Year. 

HASTENIlsTG back to Canton, where I had left 
my wife and children, I found my wife so far 
recovered as to be able to be removed at once to our 
new field. "We did not return to Malone, but sent a 
team for our few household effects, which, as we 
knew we must move, we had put up ready to be 
thrown upon the wagon. 

I was advised that Lisbon would be the best point 
for me to attempt to reach first, and as a camp-meet- 
ing had been appointed there, to commence soon 
after Conference, my attention would first be needed 
there. I was entirely ignorant of the best route, and 
was directed by a friend who, as afterward appeared, 
knew as little about it as I did. He sent me a few 
miles the shortest way, if a way it could be called, but 
it was such a way as no man ever wishes to travel but 
once. It was so at least in our case. It was an old 
military road, made during the war of 1812, and had 
not been considered passable by carriages for many 
years. It was made originally of round logs, nov/ 
rotten, through swamp lands, uninhabited for miles. 
My wife, not being fully recovered from her injury, 



72 Autobiography of Eey. Lutiiee Lee. 

was too timid to venture to ride behind the horse who 
had played her so wild a prank. This difficulty was 
soon overcome. Brother Smith, my colleague, was 
in our company, and consented to have his steady 
horse harnessed before the carriage, and ride my more 
spirited one. 

Brother Smith was a young man from Malone Cir- 
cuit, and his father's house had been one of my homes 
during the two preceding years I had traveled that 
circuit, so that we were ready for co-operation, and it 
was agreed that he should accompany me to Lisbon, 
and then take the carriage home, which I had bor- 
rowed in the neighborhood of his father, as he had to 
return home before he entered upon his labors. We 
were soon on our way — for there was a way for some 
miles— but when we reached the old military road, 
through the swamp, we found it exceedingly bad. 
The old causeway was rotten and broken up, and 
there were clay pits in which horse and carriage 
would both founder. It was impossible to get the 
carriage through with a person in it. Pushing for- 
ward in hope of finding better going, we had soon 
passed what was too bad to think of recrossing, and 
our only hope was to reach the other end, where we 
expected to find solid ground and friends who would 
give us shelter. So fearful was the way that my wife 
could not remain in the carriage, and in her crippled 
and enfeebled condition walking was a fearful tax 
upon her power of endurance, while Brother Smith 



Waddixgto^^ CmcuiT. 



13 



and myself had all we could do to manage the two 
horses and get on with the two children. One such 
struggle is enough for a life-time, and we have never 
found another equal to it. Had I been alone I could 
have endured and slept in the swamp, and renewed 
the battle again at dawn, but with my enfeebled wife 
and children with me I felt my fortitude heavily 
taxed. Yet it w^ould not do for me to falter or show 
signs of weakness, and I talked bravely and encour- 
agingly, and pressed forward, for we must get through 
and reach our friends on the other side before the 
night should spread his mantle over us and stop our 
progress. We triumphed, but my wife was unable to 
walk for days from the effect of overexertion in her 
weakness. My colleague, the Eev. Albon Smith, who 
stood by me so bravely and kindly through this strug- 
gle, is now residing somewhere in the State of Illinois. 
May God reward the kindness of his young heart ! 

The friends in Lisbon received us kindly, and did 
all in their power for our immediate comfort, but 
were amazed that any person should have directed us 
the way we had come. 

I entered at once upon my work with courage and 
earnestness. The opposition with which I met at the 
Conference now lost all depressing influence upon 
me, and left upon my mind only a determination to 
wipe out the reproach, if reproach it was, by making 
myself a scholar. If I could not be a classical 
scholar, with the polish and degrees of a collegiate 



74 AUTOBIOGEAPHY OF EeY. LuTHEK LeE. 

course, I could be a practical scholar in fact, for my 
opposers were not graduates, liad never attended a 
college, and wliat others liad done I could do, and, in 
the estimation of many at least, I did it. 

I found the circuit requiring less travel and preach- 
ing than Malone Circuit, yet there was work enough 
and none too much pay to satisfy the most zealous and 
self-sacrificing. I remained on the circuit two years, 
w^hich was all the Discipline then allowed. For my 
first year's labor I received one hundred and fifty dol- 
lars, and the second year I did a little better, yet the 
amount was less than two hundred dollars. 

There had been a camp-meeting apjoointed to be 
held in Lisbon soon after Conference. This required 
my early attention, for the arrangements devolved 
upon me, as there were no other preachers near 
enough to advise and assist. I staked out the ground 
and assisted in clearing it and in erecting the preach- 
ers' stand. The day came, neighborhood tents were 
put up, and others were arriving from a distance, 
and I was busy giving directions here and there, tell- 
ing this man where he could erect his tent and that 
man where he could erect his. The weather was ^ 
warm, and, like a man of hard work, 1 had thrown ofi 
my coat and was flying about in my shirt sleeves, and 
being a stranger to all save a few residing in the 
neighborhood of the ground, none supposed me to be 
the preacher in charge, but regarded me as some loca] 
agent employed to superintend the arrangement of 



"Wadding TON Circtjit. 



75 



tlie ground, and tlionglit me very young for that. It 
had been given out that there would be preaching at 
three o'clock P. M. The hour approached, and no 
preachers yet reported their presence upon the 
ground. The people of the neighborhood gathered 
to hear the opening sermon, and the friends gathered 
upon the seats from the tents in expectation. My 
wife was in a tent, with her little ones, near the stand. 
The time for preaching had come, and the responsi- 
bility was upon me. I rose upon the stand and 
announced the commencement of the services, and 
gave out a hymn. A lady in the tent said to my 
wife, " I hope that boy is not going to undertake to 
preach. I know he cannot preach by his looks. Do 
you know who he is ? " My wife simply answered 
that it was Mr. Lee ; but who Mr. Lee was the lady 
knew no better than she did before. While I was pro- 
ceeding with the preliminary service the oldest child 
became restless, and to pacify it the mother said, " Be 
still, and hsten ; papa is going to preach." It flashed 
upon the lady's mind that she had been talking to 
the boy's wife of whom she had spoken so disrespect- 
fully, and she shot from the tent in as great a hurry 
as she would had it been on fire. After the services 
were closed several persons whom I had directed and 
assisted in pitching their tents came to me with apol- 
ogies, they having no idea of my being the preacher 
in charge of the circuit. The presiding elder and 
several other preachers came to my relief in the even- 



76 AuTOBioaKAPHY OF Key. Luthee Lee. 

ing, and we had a very successful meeting, which gave 
an impulse to the work on this portion of the circuit, 
and the conference year opened with fair promise. 

ITothing very important occurred during the year 
beyond the ordinary moves and changes common to 
those times. I first located my family in Lisbon, 
found it on one end of the circuit, and moved to 
Waddington, and after a time made a second move to 
a preaching-place known as the Grass River appoint- 
ment. A few incidents occurred which mav be 
worthy of recording as mere indications of the spirit 
of those times, and the condition of things which 
preachers had to meet. 

In the fearful overturn, already described, by 
which my wife was injured, her bonnet was demol- 
ished, it being an old straw fabric, and, of course, I 
had to purchase her a new one. There was a very 
worthy sister in the Church, in Ogdensburgh, a prin- 
cipal town in the county, and not distant from Lis- 
bon, who kept a milhnery establishment, and to her 
I went and told her I wanted a bonnet for my wife, 
one that should be suitable and most economical when 
price and durability were taken into the account. 
She put me up a nice Leghorn, and charged me five 
dollars. "Now the point is, a principal Methodist fam- 
ily would not pay one cent that year for my support 
because my wife wore so costly a bonnet. It may 
lessen surprise at this fact when it is stated that the 
pious lady of that family purchased a common cahco 



Waddii^gton Cikcuit. 



Y7 



dress and made it up wrong side out lest she should 
be proud of its bright colors. 

A winter night's adventure may interest some who 
have no experience in pioneer life. It was during 
this year that the following little incident occurred 
as one of memory's dotting points. It was of a Sun- 
day evening, after having preached three times, and 
rode several miles, and become very weary. The 
evening service was at a regular -preachmg place, 
where a well-to-do farmer usually entertained the 
preacher, and did it well. But other families claimed 
attention, and on this occasion I was pressed to go 
home with a family where I had often been invited, 
but had never been. I yielded. There were two feet 
or more of snow on the ground, and the thermom- 
eter was down to thirty-five or forty below zero. I 
found a family of a dozen persons, largely young 
men and young women, sons and daughters, and only 
one room in the house. Of course I maintained an 
active process of thinking where they stored so many 
during the night. About ten o'clock I remarked 
that I was very weary, and would like to retire for 
the night. In response to my request I soon heard 
the old tin lantern jingle. Lanterns in those days 
were made of perforated tin, with no glass about 
them. The candle in the lantern being lighted, I 
was told to follow and they would show me the way 
to bed. I was conducted out into the snow, and 
gome few rods through it to an old shanty. This, 



78 AuTOBiOGEAriiY OF Eey. Luthek Lee. 

doubtless, had been their first temporary residence on 
moving in until they conld build a better and regu- 
lar log-cabin. Having built their permanent house, 
this was used as a lodging room for company. There 
had been no fire in it during the vrinter, and no one 
had slept there. It was so open that snow had blown 
in and lay upon the floor, and there I had to lodge 
after my hard day's labor, in linen sheets. That was 
a night of terror. I would have given five dollars 
for the privilege of sitting up all night by the mon- 
strous fire they kept, but had not courage enough to 
propose it. 

In another place I met with a summer-night's 
adventure, having ridden fifteen miles and preached 
three times during a very hot day, I was completely 
exhausted, and on reaching my stopping-place I was 
ready to fall asleep in my chair before it was decent 
to ask the privilege of retiring. I put up with a 
good family in a double log-house, and had one room 
assigned me, in which was their spare bed. As soon 
as I could I asked the privilege of retiring. Every 
thing looked clean, and there was a clock in the room 
to tick the night away. I was asleep almost before 
my head touched the pillow, so overcome was I by 
the labors of the day, but before my head had 
pressed it ten minutes I was as far from sleep as I 
ever was in my life. I lay without once feeling 
sleepy until the clock struck four, when I arose and 
took off the outside cover from the bed, and after 



Waddington CiEcrrr. 



79 



shaking it, rolled myself into it on the floor, and got 
a short nap, but did not dare to stay long for fear 
some of the family might get np and discover me. 
Of course, after a good breakfast, I went on my way 
rejoicing, for if I did not rejoice over a good night's 
rest, I rejoiced that I had escaped without losing all 
the blood I had in my veins. 

The year at last came to a close, and in looking the 
work over, it was seen that the field was so enlarged 
that more labor was required than two men could 
perform, and a third man was appointed on the 
charge, as will be seen in the opening of the next 
chapter. 



80 AuTOBioGKArHY OF Rey. Luther Lee. 



My Second Conference— Bishop Hedding— Reappointed to 
Waddington — Some Revivals — Hard VVork— The Battle 
waxes warmer— A Contest with Universalists— A Suc- 
cessful Year. 



HE second Conference I attended was held in 



X the city of Utica, commencing July 15^ 1830. 
It was presided over by Bishop Hedding. I had 
met the Bishop before, he having yisited my charge 
when I was on Malone Circuit, and preached once 
for me, and heard me preach. He then filled my 
ideal of a Bishop. His sermon before the Confer- 
ence did not contain so much fundamental theology 
as some sermons I afterward heard him preach on 
other occasions, but it was masterly of its kind. I 
think it was the greatest in simplicity of any sermon 
I ever heard, and I never have known a preacher 
who I believe could excel it in simplicity. The 
Bishop's sermon was mainly upon the subject of 
ministerial fidehty, and he dwelt largely upon the 
duty of pastoral visiting, and enlarged upon the 
crime of neglecting the sick, infirm, and aged, who 
are no longer able to attend upon public worship, 
with a power which I have seldom realized in any 
other sermon. It was a lesson to both my head and 
heart which I have never forgotten, and I have no 



CHAPTEE X. 




My Second Confeeejstce. 



81 



doubt many afflicted ones under my pastoral care 
liave blessed God as the result of tbat sermon to 
which. I listened at so early a period in my min- 
istry. 

This Conference was not distinguished by any 
thing unusual, unless it was the discussion on the 
subject of temperance. A proposition was submitted 
to the Conference to change the General Eule by 
inserting the word extreme before the word necessity^ 
so as to make the Rule read as it now does, " Drink- 
ing them unless in cases of extreme necessity." 
Over this proposition we had an earnest battle. The 
opposition was led by the Rev. Elias Bowen, (the late 
Dr. Bowen.) The affirmative was led by the late Dr. 
George Peck. One of the most effective speeches 
was made by the Rev. Goodwin Stoddard. By a 
figure of speech he marshaled the parties as two great 
armies, and described the battle, and really roused the 
temperance men of the Conference to a high degree 
of excitement. The vote was taken at the conclusion 
of this speech, and it was carried by a large majority. 
The Bishop pronounced the vote, and added, in an 
emphatic manner, " Now let whisky die an eternal 
death." This was fifty-one years ago, and still the 
battle rages. 

We finally reached the close of the Conference, 

and the appointments were read. As I listened I 

heard, " Waddington, Luther Lee, Albon Smith, and 

Calvin Danforth." 
6 



82 Autobiography of Hey. Luther Lee. 

This Brother Danforth was also a young man 
from Malone Circuit, whose father's house was one 
of my homes, and a good one it was, too. The son 
was a good young man of great promise, but, alas ! 
like a flower nipped in the bud, his health failed, and 
he went South to improve it, and died in the State of 
Georgia. 

We entered upon our work, and found enough to 
do. Hard work and little pay was the fashion of 
those days, and our trio on "Waddington Circuit were 
in the height of fashion. We had the usual bicker- 
ing and sparring with other denominations, of which 
I stood the brunt. The course of the Presbyterians 
in N^orfolk, where I resided this year, called me out 
in self-defense, in which I read their articles on fore- 
ordination, decrees, and election, and I laid my gloves 
aside while I handled them. At Massena, a princi- 
pal appointment, the Baptist minister threw so much 
water in the faces of our people that I felt called 
upon to preach upon the subject of baptism, in 
wliich I repelled his assaults and charged home 
boldly upon his strongholds. On the whole we had 
a prosperous year. We had one reviyal worthy of 
special mention. It occurred at an appointment 
known as Grass River, about eleven miles from Nor- 
folk. There was a class at this place composed of 
elderly people, but no religious young people. Our 
quarterly meeting was held at ISTorf oik, and the good 
old leader at Grass Eiver came out with his wagon, 



A Contest with Uxiyeksalists. 83 

and, having an empty seat, he persuaded a young 
lady to accept of it and come with him. She was 
abont seventeen years old. She was not what would 
be called a vicious girl, but was very far from being 
religious, and was full of frolic and dance, and was 
the actual leader of the young people in such matters. 
During the Saturday evening prayer-meeting she got 
convicted, and went forward for prayers, and was 
converted. Of course there would be a decisive 
struggle when she returned and met her associates ; 
she would capture them, or they would capture her. 
She saw and felt it, and nerved herself up for the 
trial. She met her young friends kindly, yet boldly, 
and with tears in her eyes told them what the Lord 
had done for her, and exhorted them to join her in 
the service of God. They broke down under her 
appeal, and there followed a revival in which some 
sixty persons, young and old, were converted and 
united with the Church. 

During this year I had my first set-to — public ren- 
counter — with the Universalists. It occurred on this 
wise : A meeting-house was built by the community 
in De Peyster, Heuvel Charge, without any denomi- 
national distinction. When they came to the dedica- 
tion, they found that the people did not all think alike. 
There were a few Methodists, a few Presbyterians, 
some Universalists, and many who were nothing in 
particular. The Methodists and Universahsts were 
the two strongest religious parties. The Presbyteri- 



84 AUTOBIOGEAPHY OF ReV. LuTHEE LeE. 

ans, being tlie smallest party, threw their interest into 
the hands of the Methodists, and it was agreed by 
common consent that the house should be dedicated 
by one Methodist and one XJniversalist sermon. The 
Methodists called upon me for their sermon. It was 
the first dedication sermon I ever preached, and I 
spent much labor in preparing for it, with no refer- 
ence, however, to Universalism, for I was not aware 
of the exact state of things. On arriving upon the 
ground I learned the facts, and the question was 
raised, "Who shall preach first?" Both preferred 
the second chance, and it was finally agreed to settle 
it by drawing cuts, and I drew for the first sermon. 
It was agreed between us that we would not go out 
of our way to attack each other's doctrine, but only 
preach our own frankly and honestly as the occasion 
required. I was true to this agreement, for my ser- 
mon did not contain a single allusion to Universalists 
or to Universalism, nor did it bring out the doctrine 
of endless punishment. My theme was the omni- 
presence of God as essential to his being an object of 
universal worship. I was alone, but there were two 
XJniversalist ministers present, Mr. Langworthy and 
Mr. "Whelply. Mr. Langworthy did the preaching. 
His was a written sermon, and he could preach only 
v/hat his manuscript contained. It led him out of his 
way to attack the doctrine of endless punishment. 
This I construed into a breach of contract, and rose 
and so stated at the close of his sermon, and gave 



A Contest with Ukiyersalists. 85 

notice tliat I would review that part of his sermon in 
the evening. This I had a right to do, as no provis- 
ion had been made for any service in the house in the 
evening. 

A great excitement was the result, and I had a large 
congregation. My effort was largely off-hand, but, 
if this gave it less studied finish, it imparted to it 
more sharpness and vigor. It was not to be expected 
that the person who had received the scathing, as I 
administered it, would be satisfied without at least an 
attempt to repeat the excoriation upon the adminis- 
trator. He was upon his feet at the close of my ser- 
mon, but found it difficult to get a hearing, for the 
clamor of some of his own friends tended to defeat 
him. I had thrown off my effervescence and was 
very calm, and succeeded, by the help of my friends, 
in procuring silence ; but then it was found to be too 
late in the evening to do much, and the scene closed 
with a challenge from the Universalist ministers, and 
an acceptance on my part, to meet in public debate in 
four weeks. 

As this was my first debate by previous arrange- 
ment, it stirred me up to fever heat, and the four 
weeks were spent in making such preparations as my 
time and means of research would permit. My main 
dependence was upon the Scriptures. 

We met at the time appointed, and the battle was 
opened. Brother Smith, my young colleague, accom- 
panied me, but took no part in the debate, and I spoke 



86 AuTOBioGPwAPiiY OF Key. Luther Lee. 

against two. Each party spoke fifteen minutes alter- 
nately. "Will all men be finally holy and happy?" 
was the question in issue. My opponents had the 
afiirmative, and should have led the debate ; but I 
had to lead, as they would not, but only deal in nega- 
tives, and attack my positions, without venturing to 
lead off in support of their own doctrine. After skir- 
mishing in this way for some time, I led off with a 
regular chain of arguments in defense of the doctrine 
of endless punishment, and compelled them to follow 
me, or leave mj arguments unanswered. My course, 
then, was to spend about five minutes, less or more, 
of each speech, in answer to what they had said which 
needed a reply, and then, during the remaining ten 
minutes, press the direct argument. In this manner 
I kept them on the defensive under the pressure of 
my best and most carefully prepared arguments, which 
they were but poorly prepared to rebut, as they could 
not anticipate them, it being their first hand-to-hand 
grapple with Methodist theology. Their attempted 
replies brought out the extremely absurd and easily 
overthrown consequences of their doctrine. They de- 
nied all punishment after death, and affirmed that a 
man's virtue or vice in this life has no effect on his 
condition in another world, and that the most wicked 
of individuals are immediately holy and happy after 
death. They denied the doctrine of the atonement 
made for sinners by Jesus Christ, and denied the doc- 
trine of pardon, and maintained that every sinner 



A Contest with TJkiyersalists. 87 

suffers all the punisliment his sin deserves here, in 
this life. 

It may appear strange that men should avow posi- 
tions so vulnerable in a public debate, but the fact 
was, my arguments were so constructed and arranged 
as to leave them no other mode of defense but to 
vault these terribly absurd consequences, in attempt- 
ing to do which they fell through and foundered. 
The debate continued through two days and evenings, 
and was closed by mntual consent late the second 
evening. The community became intensely interest- 
ed and excited, and there was quite a scene at the 
close. 'No vote was taken or decision rendered, and 
no one called for or wished for any, but parties were 
free in expressing their opinion. Unfortunately for 
the comfort of my opponents, some persons present, 
who had imbibed too freely of the ardent, boldly ar- 
ranged themselves on their side, and poured their 
laudations upon them from their thickened tongues. 
While my friends were taking a private contribution 
among themselves for my benefit, to meet my ex- 
penses and remunerate me for my services, a friend 
on the other side, stimulated to a state of heroism, 
pulled off his old overcoat, and tendered it to Mr. 
Langworthy, saying, "I have no money, Mr. Lang- 
worthy, but take this; you shall be welcome to it." 
This was the climax of ridiculousness, and closed the 
drama, and every man went to his own home. My 
first great battle was ended, and, in the estimation of 



88 AuTOBioGEAPnY OF Key. Luther Lee. 

the commnnity, I had won a great victory. Even the 
intelligent Universalists did not hesitate to admit that 
I was the better debater. The estimation in which 
my efforts were held by the community was shown 
in the fact that all except the Universalists, without 
distinction of party, united in a petition for me to be 
their pastor the next year. 

Time rolled on ; months and weeks went by, and 
my labors came to a close in "Waddington Cir- 
cuit, and I bade the friends farewell around the 
charge, for I knew I could not return. It had been 
a hard year's fight and very limited support, but good 
had been done, and I had won many friends whom it 
was painful to leave, however desirable it was on 
many accounts. I received a little less than two hun- 
dred dollars, which was the best 1 had done any year, 
and I went to Conference in very good spirits. I 
had sustained myself well for two years on my sec- 
ond charge, and had won a reputation which at least 
made me an equal in the class of fourteen admitted 
at the same time. In two years I had wiped out the 
reproach of that report of deficiency which the Com- 
mittee of Examination made against me when I was 
received, and I began to feel that an open field and a 
fair fight lay before me— that I had a chance to do 
and dare — which I had never before realized, and I 
went in to win. If there was one ambition which 
moved my heart more than all others it was to be an 
able and successful minister of our Lord Jesus Christ, 



A Contest with Uniyeks^vlists. 89 

and to achieve this I was ready to do and dare, to 
work or stndy by night or day. I really felt that 
nothing possible would be too great a sacrifice as the 
price of success in the ministry of the Gospel of the 
grace of God. This may account for the progress I 
made and the reputation I won during the next six 
years. 



90 Autobiography of Eev. Luther Lee. 



HE Conference for 1831 was held in Lowville, 



X in Lewis County, and was presided over by 
Bishop Soule. The Bishop presided with great dig- 
nity, and perhaps with a shght show of pomposity, 
when compared with Koberts and Hedding, who had 
preceded him. On Sabbath the weather was very 
fine, and the meeting was held in a grove near by. 
The Bishop preached in the morning from Heb. v, 9 : 
" Being made perfect, he became the author of eter- 
nal salvation unto all them that obey him." It was 
a very able sermon, eloquently delivered, yet it might 
have been thought by some to be bordering on the 
spread-eagle style. At the conclusion of the sermon 
the elders were ordained, myself included. I know 
of but one of that class besides myself now living, 
namely, the Eev. Miles H. Gaylord, of the North- 
ern 'New York Conference. There may be others, 
but I know of none. Brother Gaylord may have de- 
parted before this date, 1881. 

During this Conference, for the first time, I was 
called upon to preach on one of the evenings during 
its sessions. I took for my text Mark iv, 3 : " Heark- 





My Third Conference. 



91 



en ; Behold, there went out a sower to sow." The 
three points in my sermon were the sower, the seed, 
and the ground upon which it was sown. Of course 
I was somewhat embarrassed, but as by this time I had, 
by dint of effort, acquired a large degree of self-control 
and power of concealing my w^eaknesses from others, 
probably no one but myself knew I was embarrassed. 
I learned that it was thought by all I acquitted my- 
self very respectably. 

The only thing which occurred out of the usual 
order of business during this Conference was the 
election of delegates to the next General Conference. 
I learned by this election that religious bodies have 
their politics ; the election was made to turn on the 
presiding-elder question. A majority of the Confer- 
ence, as appeared, was in favor of making presiding 
elders elective by the Annual Conferences. This 
party was led by the Eev. George Peck. As he was 
young and a popular leader, and as I was still younger, 
I fell in under his wing, and voted what was called 
the radical ticket. I have been told that Dr. Peck 
changed his views on the subject in his old age. I 
thought at the time it meant business, and after 
Brother Peck returned from the General Conference 
I inquired of him what was done on the subject, 
when, to my surprise, he informed me that the sub- 
ject was not called up. It slept for forty years, and 
was but recently called up. 

At the close of the Conference, before reading the 



92 Autobiography of Hey. Luther Lee. 

appointments. Bishop Soule made a very pompous 
speech to the Conference. He said : " I have trav- 
eled very extensively in the North and in the South 
and in the East and in the West, and have lodged in 
palaces and in cabins ; I have slept on the ground in 
the wilderness, amid savage tribes, with no shelter but 
the broad canopy of heaven, from which the stars, as 
watching eyes, looked down upon me. To preach 
the Gospel to perishing sinners I have braved the 
winds and frosts of winter and the scorching heat of 
summer, and have been in perils on the water and in 
perils on the land, in perils in the wilderness and in 
perils in the city full, and in perils among false breth- 
ren ; but hitherto God has been my helper, and I be- 
lieve God will protect and sustain all who fearlessly 
pursue the path of duty, however rugged and peril- 
ous it may be." 

All this was said, and much more, simply to teach 
us that we should go to our respective fields of labor 
cheerfully, and not complain of him for bad appoint- 
ments, all of which we knew before. At the conclu- 
sion of this speech the Bishop read the appointments, 
and as I listened I heard him read, " Heuvel, Luther 
Lee." My work had been accomplished on "Wadding- 
ton Circuit, and I was ready and ardent for another 
campaign. 

Heuvel Charge took its name from Heuvel Tillage, 
on the Oswegatchie Eiver, six or seven miles above 
Ogdensburgh ; but the strength of the charge, at this 



My TlIir.D C0]S"FERENCE. 



93 



time, was in De Peyster, where I had the battle with 
the Universalists, as described at the conclusion of 
the preceding chapter. I located my family at De 
Peyster. The charge was composed of these two 
appointments. 

As this was my late battle-field I needed no intro- 
duction, and no persons were in danger of mistaking 
me for any other person than the preacher they ex- 
pected. 

I occupied the church I had assisted in dedicating 
without let or hinderance, for there was no other 
party to claim it. The TJniversalists could no longer 
maintain preaching as they did before the dedication. 
Mr. Langworthy made a few attempts to rally his 
friends, but failed in every attempt. His defeat 
had been too overwhelming to enable him to re-inspirit 
his friends. We were brought together, face to face, 
once during the year under circumstances worthy of 
a record. 

A young man in the neighborhood, after a down- 
ward course of dissipation, ended one of his drunken 
sprees by hanging himself. Of course, he must have 
a Christian burial, but who should preach his fimeral 
sermon? His friends were divided by such a deci- 
sive difference of opinion as to admit of no compro- 
mise that did not meet the desires of both parties, 
and it was agreed that there should be two sermons, 
one by Mr. Langworthy, my old opponent, and one 
by myself. As I knew my personal friends were anx- 



9i Autobiography of Key. Luther Lee. 

ious I should speak on the occasion, I consented. 
Mr. Langwortliy preached first, and took for his text 
Psa. xcvii, 1 : " The Lord reigneth ; let the earth 
rejoice ; let the multitude of the isles be glad there- 
of." He insisted that because God reigns he con- 
trols all things and is the efficient cause of every 
event that transpires, including human actions. From 
these premises the conclusion was reached that the 
man who lay a corpse before us had fulfilled his mis- 
sion, and accomplished his destiny, and reached the 
end which all will reach, some through one course 
of life and some through another, and that end is 
eternal happiness. This doctrine he labored to make 
comfortable to the friends of the deceased, telling 
them that the will of God was accomplished in the 
mode of their friend's death no less than it would 
have been had he died of a fever, consumption, or of 
old age. He took special pains to point his arrows 
at me. 

My text was Heb. x, 31 : " It is a fearful thing 
to fall into the hands of the living God." 

I first explained what it is to fall into the hands of 
the living God. It must have some specific meaning. 
There is a sense in which all men, good and bad, are 
always in the hands of God ; hut this is not what this 
text means. It cannot refer to good men, for God is 
their friend, and will defend them, and keep them as 
the apple of his eye. It can only refer to wicke 
men, to their being called to an account before God, 



My Thied Conference. 95 



to be judged for their conduct. Every sinner may 
be said to fall into the hands of the living God when 
he dies in his sins and passes from this world into 
the world of retribution. Though the final judgment 
does not take place at death, yet it is to be regarded 
as the sinner's arrest, preparatory for judgment, and 
he may be said then to fall into the hands of God. 

I then explained why it is a fearful thing thus to 
fall into the hands of the living God. It removes 
us from the blessings of this life. It is the end of 
our probation, and seals up our account for the final 
judgment. It closes the doors of salvation, and ends 
all hope for future improvement. To all this must 
be added the terrible punishment threatened, which 
renders the catastrophe fearful indeed. 

I next inquired how it could be that, in view of 
such facts, a man could precipitate himself, unbidden, 
into the presence of God ? It could only occur from 
the blinding and hardening influence of sin. A 
course of dissipation not only perverts the judgment 
and stupefies the conscience, but destroys all the 
attractions this world can have to hold us in life. 

To all this must be added the influence of false 
doctrines. Men teach that there is no judgment to 
come, that there is no hell, and that all men, how- 
ever wicked they are here, become perfectly happy 
as soon as they die. It may be doubted whether 
men in their clear, sober minds ever believe these 
doctrines, yet under the hardening and blinding 



9G Autobiography of Rev. Lutiiek Lee. 

influence of a desperate course in sin, and amid the 
ruins of a life of dissipation gathering tliick and dark 
around them, men may believe them, or think they 
believe them, and take hold upon them as a spring 
of action, and make a leap for the realization of their 
truth. If men really believed these doctrines there 
vrould be more suicides than there are. If the doc- 
trine we heard to-day be true — ^namely, that the soul 
of the corpse before us has passed from the abused 
and corrupted body to the fullness of eternal joy — he 
acted a wise part in hanging himself, and there are 
many others who would be wise to follow his exam- 
ple. Why should the fallen, the downtrodden, the 
friendless, the homeless, the sorrowful, and the 
wretched of earth linger here, when, with the approv- 
al of God who reigns, with the small expense of a 
lead pill, a grain of arsenic, or three feet of rope, they 
can transport themselves to realms of eternal joy. 
But these doctrines are not true, and we need no 
surer proof that men do not believe them than the 
fact that the wretched consent to live, and that others 
suffer their wretched friends to live. They all know 
and feel that " it is a fearful thing to fall into the 
hands of the living God," and suffer on. 

I characterized the application of the text to the 
occasion as inappropriate and absurd. There are oc- 
casions when we are called upon to rejoice and be 
glad in view of the fact that God reigns, but this is 
not one of them. An attempt to blend this event 



My Thied Cooteeence. 



97 



with the lofty conception of tlie text is more than 
inappropriate, it is ridiculous. Try it and see. The 
Lord reigncth," as may be seen in the fact that this 
man hanged himself. " Let the earth rejoice/' for 
we see the result of God's reign : the man is dead be- 
fore our eyes ! Let the multitude of the isles be 
glad thereof," for this man has, by the purpose of his 
heart and the skill of his hands, choked himself to 
death ! I closed with an appeal to sinners to prepare 

to meet God. 
7 



98 AUTOBIOGKAPHY OF EeV. LuTHEK LeE. 



CHAPTEE XII. 



My Fourtli Conference— Re-appointed to Heiavel— My Sec- 
ond. Year's Labor — Anottier Battle with Universalists — 
The Year's Results su.mmed. u.p. 



iHE Conference for 1832 was held in Manlius, 



X Onondaga Oonnty. Bishop Hedding presided. 
On Sabbath the meeting was held in a grove. The 
Eev. B. Waiigh, the Book Agent at JSTew York, but 
afterward Bishop Wangh, was present, and preached 
on the Sabbath, from Exod. xxxii, 26 : " Who is on 
the Lord's side ? " The arrangement of the sermon 
and the leading thoughts were excellent, but ihere 
was too much bluster in his manner to be very dig- 
nified or very impressive. It was a very quiet Con- 
ference, nothing occurring out of the usual routine 
of business. 

I was returned to Heuvel Circuit, as I expected to 
be, and went back cheerfully, to renew the struggle 
for another year. We had no general revival, but a 
steady increase of numbers and large growth of con- 
fidence and religious feeling in the community. 
There was clearly less open vice, less Sabbath-break- 
ing, and much more church-going. More effort was 
made at Heuvel this year than had been made be- 
fore, with considerable success. There were several 
conversions and some additions to the Church. A 




My Foueth Confeeexce. 



99 



camp-meeting was lield at this place, in a grove on 
the border of the village, which resulted in much 
good. As it was my second year on the charge, and 
as there was a sufficient supply of ministerial help 
present, I did not take upon myself to preach much. 
The charge of the meeting devolved upon me, and I 
called upon such preachers as I thought best adapted 
to the hour. The meeting progressed rather encour- 
agingly until Sunday, when a great throng was on 
the ground, and but little was done during the day, 
I felt it most oppressively. We had yet an evening 
service. The floating congregation was withdrav/- 
ing, and the ground began to look deserted. There 
would be on the ground in the evening but few, save 
those who were tented on the ground, and the peo- 
ple living in the village, who came out from their 
houses to each service. These were the people we 
wanted most to reach. While I was in deep thought 
on the subject of the evening meeting, which was to be 
our last, trying to make up my mind whom I would 
better call upon to preach the last sermon, the preach- 
ers came to me and insisted that I should preach. 
It was what I had not thought of, but what I could 
not refuse to do at their united request. I felt 
strangely. It was my own charge. I had hoped for 
much from the camp-meeting which I had not yet 
realized. If the meeting closed without something 
more being done I could hope for but httle during 
the remainder of the year. The more I thought the 



loo Autobiography of Key. Luther Lee. 

more troubled in mind I was. A failure tliat even- 
ing aj)peared like a final failure with me to secure 
the salvation of that people. I felt, as I afterward 
told a brother, as though I was to preach the funeral 
sermon of the community. The hour drew nigh, the 
people were gathering, and I nerved myself as best I 
could for the effort. Another brother conducted the 
opening service, after which I rose and announced * 
my text, John v, 40 : Ye will not come to me, that 
ye might have life." 

It was not my purpose to make a show of skill at 
sermonizing, but to arrest attention, and make a bold 
attempt to stir the heart. I therefore struck the 
main point in my intended discourse first, by saying, 

Christ is willing, able, ready, and waiting to save 
every one of you just now, and here, at this altar.'' 
An altar of prayer had been prepared in front of the 
stand, to which seekers were invited. I continued, 
" This ' will not,' of which the text speaks, is all that 
has heretofore kept you from being saved ; and this 
same 'will not' is all that keeps you from being saved 
now, this moment. If I can overcome, by the help 
of God, this ' will not ' of yours, and persuade you to 
come to Christ by coming to this altar of prayer, where 
he will meet you, we shall have salvation." At this 
point a strange impulse seized me, and I said what 
would have frightened me at another time, and what 
for a moment frightened some of my brethren pres- 
ent. It was most unlike myself to say any thing like 



My Foueth Coxfekexce. 



101 



it, for I was never impulsive or extravagant in tlie 
use of language, or presumptuous in my statements. 
I added to the above : " My only object is to persuade 
you to come to this altar. When this altar is full of 
seekers my object in preaching will be secured and 
I will close. I can break off anywhere when the ob- 
ject is secured. To save time, then, you would better 
come at once, that we may have more time to pray ; 
for you will come, and, God being my helper, I shall 
not close this sermon until I see the altar full I Come, 
then, without waiting ; fill up the altar, and I will 
stop preaching, and we will come down and meet you 
there. "Who will be the first? Who will lead the 
way? Let some one start, and others will follow.'' 
At this point some one made for the altar, and others 
did follow, and the altar was filled up, and the preach- 
ers rushed down, and there was a praying time, and 
there were conversions, and the meeting had a glori- 
ous termination, and there was quite an addition to 
the Church. 

When the scene was past, and the excitement sub- 
sided and left me to sober reflection, I trembled at 
what appeared so much like presumption. I do not 
relate it as a thing to be commended ; I am entitled 
to no credit for it. If it was of me, it was presump- 
tion; if it was the Spirit of God that mo7ed me to 
it, there was no presumption in it, and no credit is 
due me for it ; to God all the glory belongs. 

During this year I had my greatest and last oral 



102 AUTOBIOGEAPHY OF EeV. LuTHEE LeE. 

debate witli the Universalists, at Antwerp, Jefferson 
County, JST. Y. This was at that time the strongest 
hold of Universalism in all that country. They had 
a brick church standing upon a hill in the village, 
making a prominent show, and it was the only 
church in the place, or for many miles. Antwerp 
Circuit embraced the village, with an appointment in 
the school-house. The circuit at this time was a poor 
one, and was under the charge of a Brother Gibbs, 
my friend, and, I suppose, my admirer, but a number 
of years my junior in the ministry. This brother got 
into a discussion in an incidental conversation with 
a Dr. Rogers, a Universalist and physician in the 
place. The doctor finally challenged him for a pub- 
lic debate. The doctor said, We have challenged the 
Presbyterians and the Baptists, and they dare not 
meet us, and we now challenge the Methodists." This 
was more than Brother Gibbs was willing to bear, 
and he accepted, with the condition that he should 
not be required to debate himself, but should have 
the right of bringing w^hom he would to represent 
the Methodist side ; and a written contract was entered 
into on the spot, so fearful was Dr. Rogers that he 
would back out. Brother Gibbs selected me as his 
champion, and Dr. Bogers made choice of the Bev. 
Pitt Morse, of Watertown. Mr. Morse was acknowl- 
edged by all to be the strongest debater they had in 
all that country. The time for the debate was fixed 
at a reasonable distance in the future, and the report 



My Foletii Confekence. _ 103 

of the matter spread over that whole country. Some 
of the cautious non-combatant Methodists were 
alarmed, and thought the young man too forward 
and too venturesome for his years. It was not gen- 
erally known that I had undertaken it against my 
own taste, to save a friend, who in a moment of 
excitement had involved himself in a contract for a 
discussion. I loved my regular work and my regular 
studies too well to seek any such digressive amuse- 
ment. Moreover, such a contest was a heavy tax 
upon both mind and body. Still the murmuring 
went on, as I afterward learned, for my charge was on 
one side of the centers of influence, so that I did not 
know how the Methodist pulse beat on the subject. 

At this time Bishop Hedding passed through that 
country, and called upon some principal families. 
On being asked if he did not think Brother Lee was 
too forward and too venturesome for a man of his years, 
I was told the Bishop replied, " You need have no 
fears for Brother Lee on that subject. I have heard 
it preached upon by our strongest men from the St. 
Lawrence to the Gulf of Mexico, and at the (^mp- 
meeting in Canton, a year ago. Brother Lee preached 
upon it by the request of the preachers, and he went 
beyond any thing I ever heard before. He had 
argument enough to overturn all the Universalism in 
the world." That settled public opinion in my favor, 
and a general interest was felt in the coming contest. 

The time came, the debate was held in the Univer- 



104 AlJTOBIOGEAPHY OF EeY. LuTHEK LeE. 

salist cliurcli. The qnestion was thus stated : " Will 
all men be finally holy and happy ? " Each disputant 
was to speak fifteen minutes alternately. My oppo- 
nent chose one man and I chose another^ and they 
chose a third^ and the three constituted a board of 
moderators, whose business it was to keep order and 
hold the disputants to the question. 'No decision on 
the main question was to be given. There were 
present nearly all the Methodist preachers in the 
vicinity. My opponent was accompanied by one of 
his ministerial brethren, a Mr. Fuller, from Boon- 
ville. The issue was very earnestly contested on 
both sides, through three days and three evenings, 
when the debate was closed by mutual consent. 

As I wish to give an abstract of my principal argu- 
ments and replies, as the subject is being again 
mooted in these latter days, I w^ill make it the sub- 
ject of the next chapter, and will close this with a 
brief summing up of the results of the year, which 
w^as the sixth year of my traveling ministry. I had 
been moderately successful on Heuvel Charge, and 
my labors each year had been regarded by others as a 
success, and I had come to be regarded as a success 
in the ministry. I had risen more in public estima- 
tion during the last year than in all the years before. 
This was not true in actual progress, but only in 
public estimation, owing to the fact that I came to be 
known through my public debate, and more still 
through the press in a written discussion which grew 



My Fourth Conference. 105 



out of the debate. I have no doubt many who had 
known me in earlier years, and knew the rock from 
which I had been hewn, and the pit from which I 
had been dug, were astonished at the reports they 
heard of me. I may safely affirm that probably none 
were more astonished than myself at the progress I 
had made, for none knew so well as I how small was 
my beginning, and what my advancement had cost 
me in brain work and physical endurance. I felt 
myseK that I had wiped out the reproach of igno- 
rance poured upon me at the time of my reception 
into the Conference, only four years before. My 
zeal, fidelity to truth, and success attracted the atten- 
tion of the appointing power, and I was sent to one 
of the best charges in the Conference, a thing I had 
not asked for or expected. 



lOG AuTOBiOGKArHY OF Eev. Lutheb Lee. 



CHAPTEE XIII. 

My Debate with the Rev. Pitt Morse — An Epitome of the 
Discussion— A Resort to the Press— The Consequences. 

"TTflLL all men be finally holy and happy?" 
T T My opponent had the affirmative, and must 
open the argument. It was his privilege to lead the 
debate, which would have been to his advantage 
could he have made such a show of argument as 
would have held me sternly to the work of replying ; 
but he could not or did not choose to do it, but em- 
ployed himself in sensational declamation over a 
Methodist hell. I had spared no pains in prepara- 
tion, and was ready for this play of my opponent, 
and took the lead into my own hand by commencing 
to pay out a chain of logic-linked arguments on the 
negative in proof that all men will not be finally holy 
and happy. This compelled him to act on the defen- 
sive, or to suffer his citadel to be stormed without 
resistance. His opportunity to lead the argument 
was lost, for by my careful preparation my arguments 
were so condensed that I could advance them in less 
time than he occupied in replying to them, which 
enabled me to make brief rejoinders in answer to his 
replies and still keep in advance with my argument, 
compelling him to follow in my wake. This annoyed 



Debate with Rev. Pitt Morse. 107 

him, and he straggled to recover the lead, but with- 
out success. He resorted to every possible expedient 
to draw me off from my chain of argument. With 
this view he challenged me to settle the argument 
by a single text. He would quote one text, and I 
might quote one, and by these we would settle the 
question. This I knew was only a ruse to break up 
my chain of argument, and I rephed that miy side 
was not in such a strait as to rest all upon a single 
text, that 1 had many texts yet in reserve which I 
intended to quote. If he chose to rest the affirmative 
upon one text he might bring it forward, and I would 
give it all proper attention. Repeating his challenge, 
and blustering by daring me to accept it, he produced 
his text, Vv^hich was Psalm cxlv, 9: "The Lord is 
good to all : and his tender mercies are over all his 
w^orks.'' 

Of course I was bound not to allow him to make 
much out of this attempt to draw me from my chain 
of argument, and to divert the attention of our hear- 
ers from it. I replied at once by saying that, as he 
offered to rest the whole argument, on his side, upon 
this one text, he must regard it as the strongest text 
in the book ; if I, therefore, could show that it did 
not sustain the affirmative, he must admit that no 
other text could sustain it, and he must confess his 
cause lost. I then replied as follows : 

" God is immutable, and has always been good unto 
Si, and his tender mercies have always been over all 



108 Autobiography of Rev. Luthek Lee. 

his works, while sin and misery have reigned and 
earth has groaned under hnman guilt and woe for six 
thousand years. The Lord was good unto all, and his 
tender mercies were over all his works, when he 
opened the windows of heaven and poured the waters 
of destruction upon the world of the ungodly, and 
when he reigned fire and brimstone upon Sodom and 
Gomorrah. The Lord is good unto all, and his tender 
mercies are over all his works now ; sin reigns and the 
world lieth in wickedness, and millions shed scalding 
tears of anguish. If present goodness and tender 
mercy do not produce present holiness and happiness 
it cannot be made to appear that they will produce 
holiness and happiness in the future ; for God's good- 
ness and mercy, in themselves, will never be any more 
powerful than they are to-day. As God's goodness 
and mercy did not prevent the introduction of sin and 
misery, it must be unsafe to rely upon them as an 
unconditional cure for what they did not prevent." 

This disposition of his one all-sufiicient text roused 
him to desperation, and he made a desperate defense. 
He declared that sin and misery are a part of God's 
plan, and the means which he employs to secure the 
final holiness and happiness of all men. Sin and 
misery are in perfect harmony with God's will, while 
he by means of them is working out the grand plan 
to secure the final happiness of all. God designs the 
sin and the misery, and uses them as means to an 
end, and will make every sin and every human pang 



Debate with Eev. Pitt Moese. 109 

contribute to liis own glory and the final happiness of 
all men. 

To this I replied that " the theory is wholly un- 
scriptural. God condemns and denounces sin. and if 
this theory be true, God condemns and denounces his 
own plans and measures. God forbids sin, and ad- 
monishes and threatens to punish sinners, and if this 
theory be true, God forbids the execution of his own 
plans and the adoption of his own means, and threat- 
ens to punish men for doing what he wills and causes 
them to do, God represents sin as a great evil, but 
if this theory be true, it is one of the greatest bless- 
ings, and will swell the tide of eternal joy. God 
represents sin as of great turpitude, and sinners as 
very guilty ; but if this be true, there can be no such 
thing as turpitude or guilt, or even sin, or if there is 
sin God is the sinner. This theory of my opponent 
encourages sin, by representing it as promotive of 
man's final and greatest good. Does he believe it ? 
If he does, if he is capable of being any more wicked 
than he is, he ought to rouse every power, and sin 
with heart, soul, mind, and strength, as a means of 
enlarging his eternal inheritance in glory." 

This ended his special proposition to rest the argu- 
ment upon a single text, and the discussion proceeded 
in the direction I had given it. 

To present my arguments in full, as I then elabo- 
rated them, would be to swell these pages beyond rea- 
sonable limits. The following is a mere brief, such 



110 AUTOBIOGKAPIIY OF ReY. LuTHER LeE. 

as I was then accustomed to use in debate, depending 
upon my memory or my extemporizing power for fill- 
ing out as tlie case might require : 

I. Sin and punishment will exist in the future state. 

1. All Universalists hold views which involve the 
fact of sin and punishment after death. Every class 
of Universalists insist that all punishment is designed 
to reform the punished. As it is obvious that pun- 
ishment fails to reform many in this life, they must 
admit that it will be continued after death. 

2. There are some sins which will not admit of 
punishment in this life. In all cases where life ter- 
minates during the act of sinning, as when a man 
commits suicide, or y>dien the assassin has his brains 
blown out in his attempt to commit murder, sin can- 
not be punished before death, and must be punished 
after death. 

3. If punishment is inflicted and endured during 
this life, to the full extent of the penalty of God's 
law, it can never be known what the punishment for 
sin is, how great an evil, on whom it is inflicted, nor 
for what purpose, since it often fails to reform men. 

4. It does not appear that bad men always suffer 
more in this life than good men. 

5. To affirm that there is no punishment after death 
is, in fact, to affirm that the consequences of virtue 
and vice are limited to this life, which removes all 
hope and fear in regard to the future, and leaves men 
to seek what enjoyment they can in this life, without 



Debate with Eey. Pitt Moese. Ill 

any tliouglit of, or reference to, tlie future. Of 
course, persons fully believing tliis doctrine, if any 
such there are, will live as they list. 

6. The descriptions often given of the punishment 
of the wicked in the Scriptures clearly prove it to be 
after death, in many instances at least. Matt, xxii, 
13 ; XXV, 30, 46 ; Kom. i, 18 ; ii, 8, 9 ; 2 Thess. i, 7, 8 ; 
Rev. XX, 15 ; xxi, 8. 

7. The Scriptures associate the punishment of the 
wicked with a place, frequently called hell, and some 
times the bottomless pit. Psa. ix, 17; lii, 15 ; Matt. 
V, 29 ; X, 28 ; Mark ix, 47 ; Luke xii, 5 ; xv, 22. Hell 
must be in the future world. 

8. The punishment of the wicked and the happi- 
ness of the righteous are often so connected in script- 
ural references to them as to prove them both to 
transpire at the same time, and in the same world, be 
it in this or in the world to come. Matt, viii, 11, 12 ; 
xiii, 41-43 ; xxv, 31-46 ; Luke xiii, 28 ; John v, 28, 29 ; 
1 Thess. i, 7-10. It will not be denied that the ridit- 
eous will receive their promised reward in the world 
to come, and there also will the wicked be punished. 

9. The Scriptures teach that the punishment of the 
wicked will be longer than the whole of this life, and 
consequently it must transpire after death. The 
Scriptures uniformly affirm that human life is very 
short. Job vii, 6 ; viii, 9 ; Psa. ciii, 15, 16 ; James 
iv, 14 ; 1 Peter i, 24. The Scriptures affirm that the 
punishment of the wicked will be very long, eternal, 



112 Autobiography of Eey. Luther Lee. 

everlasting, for ever and ever. Mark iii, 29 ; Matt. 
XXV, 46 ; 2 Tliess. i, 9 ; Jude 7 ; Kev. xx, 10. 

10. The Scriptures and reason both teach that men 
will possess the same moral character in the future 
state with which they leave this. Pro v. xiv, 32 ; 
Dan. xii, 2 ; John v, 28, 29. Eeason accords with 
revelation. The essential elements of sin adhere in 
the mind and not in the body. Conscience and con- 
sciousness are both of the mind and not of the body. 
All that is essential to a responsible moral agent is of 
the mind and not of the body. There is nothing in 
the nature of death to destroy sin. 

11. The punishment of sinners is so associated with 
the punishment of devils as to prove it to belong to 
a future state. Matt, xxv, 41. 

12. The Scriptures teach that there is to be a day of 
general judgment, when all men will be judged to- 
gether, at which time the wicked will receive their 
punishment, which proves it to be after death. Eccl. 
xii, 14 ; Matt, xxv, 31-33 ; Acts xvii, 31 ; John xii, 
48 ; Eom. xiv, 10 ; 2 Cor. v, 10 ; 2 Pet. ii, 9 ; Jude 6 ; 
Rev. XX, 12. 

13. The Scriptures associate the punishment of the 
living wicked of Christ's time with the then dead 
and even long-departed generations, which proves 
punishment to transpire in a future state. Matt, x^ 
14, 15 ; xi, 23, 24 ; Luke x, 31, 32. 

14. The judgment and punishment of the wicked 
are connected with the second coming of Christ, 



Debate vran Key. Pitt Moese. 113 

wliicli proves the punishment to be in the future state. 
This point was proved under the last argument, but 
to that may be added Acts x, 42 ; 2 Tim. iv, 1 ; 
iv, 5 : Rev. i, Y : xxii, 7, 12. 

15. The Scriptures connect the judgment and pun- 
ishment of sinners with the end of the world. Matt, 
xii, 40-42; John xii, 48; 2 Pet. iii, 7, 10, 12; Eom. 
XX, ll, 12. 

16. There is in the minds of men what appears to 
be a universal conviction that there awaits them a 
future state of retribution. This conviction must be 
a conchision from revelation, a deduction of reason, 
or a conviction wrought within by the Spirit of 
God. 

II. The punishment of the wicked in the future 
state will be endless, and, therefore, all men will not 
be finally holy and happy. 

1. The Scriptures affirm the endlessness of punish- 
ment in the strongest terms which language contains 
to express that idea, such as eternal, everlasting, for- 
ever, for ever and ever. Matt, xviii, 8 ; xxv, 46 ; 
Mark iii, 29 ; 2 Thess. i, 9 ; Eev. xiv, 11 ; xx, 10. 

2. The Scriptures speak of the punishment of the 
wicked, and the salvation of the righteous, in con- 
trast, in such a manner as to prove that those who are 
not punished all their sins deserve cannot be saved, 
and, of course, can never be made holy and happy. 
Those who are saved are not punished, and those 

who are punished are not saved. Matt, xxv, 46; 
8 



114 AUTOBIOGEAPHY OF KeY. LuTHER LeE. 

John iii ; Kom. ii, 6-8. Some men will be punished 
for their sins, and those who are cannot be saved. 

3. The Scriptures absolutely deny salvation to 
specified evil doers and characters. Matt, v, 20; 
vii, 21; xii, 32; Mark iii, 29; Luke xiv, 24; John 
iii, 3, 5, 36 ; 1 Cor. vi, 10 ; Gal. v, 21 ; Eph. v, 5. 

4. The Scriptures teach that there is a possibility 
and danger of coming short of salvation, and warn 
us against it. Matt, vii, 13, 14; Luke xiii, 24; 1 Cor. 
ix, 27; Heb. iv, 1; xii, 15-17. 

5. The Scriptures teach that sinners can and do 
resist the means which God employs to save them. 
Sinners resist the force of truth. Isa. liii, 1 ; Matt, 
xiii, 58 ; xxiii, 37 ; Acts xiii, 46 ; 2 Tim. iii, 8 ; Heb. 
iii, 16 ; iv, 2. Sinners resist the influence of the 
Spirit. Isa. Ixiii, 10 ; Acts vii, 51 ; Eph. iv, 30 ; 
1 Thess. V, 19. Sinners resist the influence of di- 
vine mercy. Isa. i, 2 ; v, 4 ; Luke xix, 41-44 ; xxiii, 
34-37 ; John v, 40 ; Kev. iii, 20. Sinners resist and 
harden them^selves under the influence of divine cor- 
rection and punishment. Isa. i, 5 ; ix, 13 ; Jer. ii, 20 ; 
V, 3; Eev. xvi, 9, 11, 21. 

6. The Scriptures teach that there will come a 
time with sinners when it will be too late to seek and 
find salvation. Prov. i, 24-26 ; v, 11 ; Isa. xxxviii, 
18; Matt, xxv, 11, 12; Luke xii, 25; 2 Cor. vi, 2; 
Heb. iii, 13, 15 ; Eev. xxii, 11, 12. 

7. The promises and threatenings found in the 
Scriptures both imply the fact of endless punish- 



Debate with Eey. Pitt Mokse. 115 

ment. Pro v. xxix, 1 ; Matt, 8 ; 39 ; xiii, 47-49 ; 
xxvi, 24 ; Mark viii, 5 ; Luke ix, 24 ; John x, 12^ 25 ; 
James iii, 13 ; Eev. ii, 10 ; xxii, 19. 

8. Tlie penalty of tlie divine law is termed death, 
which is endless in its nature. Death is the negation 
of hf e, the absence of all life ; hence death, whether 
of body or soul, is endless in itself. A person once 
dead would remain dead forever, unless quickened by 
a creative power. Gen. ii, 17 ; Ezek. xviii, 20 ; Pom. 
vi, 23 ; viii, 6 ; James i, 15. 

9. The condition of sinners after the judgment will 
not be that of probationers, but that of condemned 
criminals in a state of retribution. The decisions of 
the last day are represented as final, and there is not 
the slightest allusion to a probation or offers of mercy 
after the judgment-day. 

10. In a state of future retribution there will be 
no available means of salvation. There will be no 
Holy Ghost ; it will have been grieved away. Gen. 
vi, 3 ; Eph. iv, 30 ; 1 Thess. v, 19. There will be 
no Gospel to move their hearts and promise them 
eternal life, and it will be too late to exercise faith in 
a Gospel sense. 

11. The Scriptures represent the punishment of 
sinners as their end, their last estate, their portion. 
Psa. xvii, 14; Ixxii, 12, 18, 19; Jer. xvii, 11 ; Matt. 
XX, 51 ; Luke xii, 46 ; 2 Cor. xi, 13, 15 ; Phil, iii, 
18, 19 ; Heb. vi, 8. 

12. The Scriptures teach that salvation is condi- 



116 AtiTOBIOGEAPHY OF EeY. LrXHER LeE. 

tional, and what is conditional cannot be certain with 
finite minds, and may fail. Matt, xix, 16, 17; Mark 
xvi, 16 ; John iii, 36 ; Eev. ii, 10 ; iii, 5, 12.'' 

In pressing these arguments every text was quoted 
in full, and applied to the point in issue. My oppo- 
nent, in attempting to reply, raised many side issues, 
which were met in my rejoinders. Finally, an hour 
was agreed upon for closing the debate. Then there 
rose a question, who should have the closing speech. 
After some discussion, it was agreed tliat we would 
close by shortening the time. Each should speak ten 
minutes, then each should speak five, then each one 
minute, and that I should have the last minute. My 
opponent's last minute was occupied with a quotation 
from Isa. xxv, 6-8 : And in this mountain shall the 
Lord of hosts m.ake imto all people a feast of fat 
things, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full 
of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined. And 
he will destroy in this mountain the face of the cov- 
ering cast over all people, and the veil that is spread 
over all nations. He will swallow up death in vic- 
tory, and the Lord God will wipe away tears from 
ofi all faces ; and the rebuke of his people shall he 
take away from ofi all the earth : for the Lord hath 
spoken it." 

I remarked that the text which had been quoted 
was but a general description of the triumph and 
blessings of the Gospel. If it really predicts an age 
of universal piety and happiness, it does not insure 



Debate with Eev. Pitt Mokse. llY 

the >salvatioii of sucli as live and die in sin before 
the golden age comes. We read, Prov. i, 24-26 : 
" Because I have called, and ye refused ; I have 
stretched out my hand, and no man regarded ; but 
ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none 
of my reproof : I also will laugh at your calamity ; I 
will mock when your fear conieth." Luke xiv, 24 : 
" I say unto you, that none of those men which were 
bidden shall taste of my supper." 

The discussion was closed. Forty-eight years have 
since rolled by and been gathered to the years be- 
yond the flood ; my opponent passed away years ago, 
and but few witnesses of that conflict are now in the 
land of the living to testify to its results. Sure I 
am I bore off the reputation of having achieved a 
decisive victory. Universalist preaching was never 
again maintained in that house, and, after standing 
unoccupied for some years, it passed into the hands 
of the Catholics. 

Mr. Morse made such statements through the 
press concerning the debate as were calculated to 
make those who knew nothing about it believe he 
had triumphed gloriously, and, to give countenance 
to his statements, he challenged me to a further dis- 
cussion through the press. I accepted at once, but 
preferred another oral debate, and urged it. I had 
never used the pen, and, like David, I did not like to 
trust to an armor I had not tried. Having discussed 
preliminaries for some time without being able to 



118 AUTOBIOGKAPHY OF ReY. LuTHER LeE. 

agree on another oral debate, I yielded, and said : 
If you will not meet me in another oral discussion 
I call upon you to meet me in the columns of ' The 
Magazine,' according to your challenge and my ac- 
ceptance." " The Magazine " was the Universalist 
organ, published in Utica, 'N. Y. This brought things 
to a crisis, and the battle opened. I published my 
articles also in the Christian Advocate," of 'New 
York. I had had no experience as a writer, but I was 
compelled to try it or lose the laurels I had won in 
the oral discussion. I soon found I was as good a 
match for my opponent with the pen as I was in 
oral debate, and I soon felt at home. I had only got 
my battery in position and opened fire when ^' The 
Magazine" shut me out of its columns. Of this I 
complained, especially because I had not sought ad- 
mission into its columns, but had been challenged 
there by Mr. Morse. I affirmed that I had never 
challenged Mr. Morse, but that he had challenged 
me. This complaint they refused to publish, but 
stated that they had received an article from me, 
and accused me of lying, in that I denied having 
challenged Mr. Morse, and, as proof, they quoted 
from my former article the words, " I call upon you 
to meet me in the columns of ' The Magazine,' " 
omitting the last part of the sentence as I wrote it. 
Over this they exclaimed, " The reader can see how 
much truth there is in Mr. Lee's assertion that he 
never challenged Mr. Mo:^sp " whereas, if they had 



Debate with Rey. Pitt Moese. 119 

given the whole sentence, it would have read, I call 
upon you to meet me in the columns of ' The Maga- 
zine/ according to your cliallenge and my accejpt- 
anceP I wrote them, complaining of this downright 
dishonesty in garbling my Vs^ords, so as to make me 
appear to say the opposite of what I actually said, 
but they took no notice of my complaint, and gave 
me no redress. This brought the discussion to a 
final close. Being thus challenged in the columns 
of a Universalist paper and shut out before I had 
half finished my argument, and so misrepresented, 
after consultation with friends I determined to write 
a book in refutation of TJniversalism, which was is- 
sued from the press in the spring of 1836, a volume 
of three hundred pages. That, I believe, was the 
first book written in this country against Universal- 
ism, covering the whole ground. It was my first 
effort at book-making ; and, though it may have been 
wanting in classic polish, it was highly commended 
for its forcible arguments, and there are now many 
living persons who have assured me they derived 
much benefit from reading it. It has long since 
been out of print. 



120 AuTOBioaRAFHY OF Eev. Lutiier Lee. 




tinsbiirgli— A Pleasant Year— An Attack of Fever. 



iHE Conference for 1833 was held at Cazenovia, 



X where it was held four years before, when I was 
received into full connection. Bishop Hedding pre- 
sided. We had a quiet Conference. Several distin- 
guished visitors attended this Conference. Among 
them was Eev. Wilbur Fisk, D.D., President of Mid- 
dletown University, and the Eev. Heman Bangs, from 
the N"ew York Conference. Both of them preached 
during the Conference. Dr. Fisk preached on the 
Sabbath. His was a missionary sermon, and was very 
eloquent. By one single dash of his eloquence he 
brought a large portion of the Conference upon their 
feet, and I found myself up among the rest. The 
process was a very simple one. It was soon after the 
death of Melville B. Cox, our first missionary to Af- 
frica. He spoke of Cox, of his worth, of his depart- 
ure for Africa, and of his death, until we were all at- 
tention. Then he added : " As Brother Cox took 
leave of me he said, ' If I die you must come over 
to Africa and write my epitaph.' I asked, ^What 
shall your epitaph be ? ' He replied, ' Tlioiigli a 
thousand fall yet shall Africa l)e redeemed ! ' " It 




My Fifth Confekekcs. 



121 



was said in sucli a manner that it thrilled the whole 
Conference — a large number sprang upon their feet. 
It was that sermon which sent the Eev. Squire 
Chase to Africa, whose health failed, but who came 
home to die. He was an intimate friend of mine, 
and told me that it was under that sermon that he re- 
ceived an impression that he must go as a missionary 
to Africa, which he could never shake o£E. 

At the time of the session of this Conference I 
had commenced my written controversy with Mr. 
Morse, which had been read and had excited much 
interest and comment. On being introduced to Dr. 
risk, as he took my hand he said, " I thank you that 
you have taken up that controversy against Univers- 
alism, and I thank you for having done so well." 
Many and very flattering allusions were made to the 
subject, both in and out of the Conference. It was 
obvious that I had given complete satisfaction to the 
best thinkers among Methodist preachers, who re- 
garded my arguments as unanswerable. The fact 
that I was discussing the subject with so much skill 
was, doubtless, the reason why I was unjustly shut 
out of the Universalist paper, which occurred soon 
after this Conference. 

I must relate one unpleasant fact which occurred 
at this Conference in relation to my appointment. 
Up to this time I had been laboring on the northern 
border, which was then regarded as a hard section of 
the Conference, and it was plain that I had only to 



122 AUTOBIOGEAPHY OF KeV. LuTHER LeE. 

say tlie word to come out of that part of the work. 
Brother Dempster came to me and inquired if he could 
do any thing for me, which I suppose meant, " Is 
there any appointment in my district which you 
would like ? " I thanked him, but made no request. 
The Eev. Josiah Keyes was then on the Black Eiver 
District, with whom I was intimately acquainted, he 
having been stationed at Potsdam the first year I was 
on Waddington Circuit. We were great friends. 
He came to me and told me he would give me 
any appointment in his district. He had been sta- 
tioned at Lowville before going upon the district, and 
he had some little trouble, and it was thought the 
Church was a little difficult to manage. After con- 
siderable conversation I told him I would not name 
any charge, but accept of any one in his district he saw 
fit to give me, excepting Lowville ; I did not v/ish to 
be sent there. My only objection was the fact that 
he had met with some trouble there, and I had more 
confidence in him as a manager than I had in myself. 
IsTothing more was said, and I was perfectly surprised, 
and, indeed, offended, when I was read out at Low- 
ville. It was not the fact that I was appointed there, 
but the manner in which it was done. Had he told 
me he wished to send me there, 1 would have gone 
cheerfully, or have gone anywhere he desired me to 
go. But after being offered any charge in the dis- 
trict, and declining to select for myseK, to be sent to 
the only charge I declined without being spoken to, 



My Fifth Coxfeee^^ce. 



123 



stung me to the very heart. When I named it to 
him, in his own good-natured and peculiar manner 
he laughed, and said I was just the man to go there. 
But this did not heal the wound that had been made ; 
it came too late. The same words before the ap- 
pointment was made would have been sufficient. A 
young man by the name of Euf us Stoddard was re- 
ceived on trial and appointed as my colleague, as 
Martinsburgh was then attached to Lowville. Lov\^- 
ville was one of the best charges in the Con- 
ference, and I spent two of the best years of my life 
on it. 

Brother Stoddard, my colleague, boarded in my 
family during the year. He was a very excellent 
young man, and we spent a very happy year together. 
But he was among the early smitten flowers. He 
passed to another field of labor, his health failed, and 
he went home and died, and I was sent for to preach 
his funeral sermon in a little less than two years from 
the time he left my family. He was truly a blessed 
young man. 

John Dempster was appointed to the district when 
I was sent to Lowville, under whom I spent three 
years, two of which I spent in Lowville, and one in 
Watertown. He was the best and truest friend I ever 
had. He was a good preacher, a faithful administra- 
tor, a wise and safe counselor, and a true and sym- 
pathizing friend. 

"We had two good revivals this year, one in Low- 



124 AuTOEioGiiAPiiY OF Eev. Lutiier Lee. 

yille and one in West Martinsburgh. and a fine addi- 
tion to the Clinrcli. But the pleasant and successful 
year came to a close, and the next Conference met in 
Auburn. 

The Auburn Conference was held in 1834, and 
was my sixth. Bishop Hedding presided. Nothing 
occurred worthy of special notice. I preached dur- 
ing the Conference from Eom. 17: "For if by 
one man's ofiense death reigned by one ; much more 
they which receive abundance of grace and of the 
gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus 
Christ.'' 

I was returned to Lowville, with Isaac L. Hunt for 
my colleague. Brother Hunt was a very genial, 
good fellow, full of good feeling and full of meta- 
physics, in which he displayed much skill and tact. 
It was liis first year, yet he was somewhat matured 
in years and judgment, and did well, and we enjoyed 
a pleasant year together. He is now a superannuate 
of the Northern New York Conference. I enjoyed 
another prosperous year on Lowville Charge, with 
some revival, but not as extensive as the first year. 
It was during this year that I commenced writing my 
book in refutation of Universalism. Not to let it 
interfere with my labors and other studies, I rose 
every morning at four o'clock, and wrote until called 
to breakfast. In this way I progressed very rapidly 
with my manuscript. 

We were severely afflicted at the close of this year 



An Attack of Fevek. 



125 



witli sickness. My next-door neighbor sickened and 
died. The doctors could not determine what the dis- 
ease was of which he died. Not many days after his 
mother was taken sick and also died. Her disease 
developed symptoms of typhus fever. A girl hving 
in our family watched with the old lady, and took 
considerable care of her. Just at this time I went 
to Conference, which met at Oswego this year, 1835, 
which was my seventh Conference. My family were 
all well when I left home. On Saturday, at the seat 
of Conference, I received a letter from my wife, 
saying that the girl had been taken sick and had died, 
and that our children, five in number, were all down 
with the typhus fever, and that some of them were 
not expected to live. We had no telegraphs in those 
days nor even railroads in that country. Much time 
had elapsed since the letter was written, and I was 
ninety miles from home. My wife was home with 
her sick children, probably some of them dead, if not al- 
ready buried, or would be before I could reach home. 
My horse had been sent into the country to be kept dur- 
ing Conference. On the reception of the letter I at 
once sent for my horse, and while waiting for him I 
disposed of what Conference business I had on hand, 
got my excuse, and was ready to start the moment 
my horse came. At three o'clock P. M. I jumped 
into my buggy, and was off with ninety miles be- 
tween me and my home of sickness and supposed 
death, and at early dawn next morning I reined up 



126 Autobiography of Eev. Luthek Lee. 



at my o^n door, liaving driven eight miles an hour 
for ninety miles, including stops, so that the actual 
speed while u^nder way must have been considerably 
]nore than eight miles an hour. 

I found my family all ahve ; the fever had turned 
v\^ith all, and the first taken down were beginning to 
mend slightly, but all were still very low. My wife 
vras worn out with her watching over so many sick 
ones night and day, and was coming down vrith the 
fever. The doctor had urged her for the last twenty- 
four hours to go to bed, as the fever was upon her ; but 
how could she, with so many sick children so near the 
gates of death, when a half -hour's neglect might pass 
tliem through ? People had become alarmed, and it 
was difficult to obtain watchers and nurses. Iso 
sooner did I reach home than my wife gave up, and 
had a severe turn of the fever. It was, doubtless, 
vrorse on account of her having been so long in an 
atmosphere of the disease, and having so long resisted 
its attack. I watched over her night and day until 
the fever turned, when I was taken, all the rest 
had been. The doctor urged me to give up and go 
to bed, insisting it would only aggravate the disease to 
hold out longer. I roused myself, and said, " Doctor, 
I will not have the fever.'' By this time I had heard 
from Conference, and learned that I was appointed 
to Watertown, which was twenty-five miles north. 
It was now Saturday, and I first made the best 
arrangement I could for the care of my sick wife and 



An Attack of Fever. 



127 



children, and then harnessed my horse and drove 
away. I stopped on Rutland Hill, about four miles 
from Watertown, with a Brother "Weaver, who be- 
longed to Watertown Church. I told them I was on 
my way to Watertown, and did not feel well, and 
would stop until morning. I did not dare to tell the 
whole truth about the cause of my not feeling well; 
they, however, could easily see that I was far from 
being well. Most families have some favorite rem- 
edy for every disease, and so with this good family. 
They had in the house a box of Lee's pills, a cele- 
brated pill of those times, made by a Dr. Lee, and 
they insisted that I should take a dose on going to bed. 
I consented, but such was the condition of my system 
that the pills acted with four times their usual power, 
and much sooner than usual, so that by morning they 
had spent their entire force. I was very feeble, but 
did not let the good family know how bad I was. I 
told them I could eat no sohd food, but would take 
a little gruel. My purpose was to drive down to Wa- 
tertown and preach, if I could stand up to do it, 
but I did not feel able to drive my spirited beast into 
town. Now this "Weaver family were great people 
for fine horses, and I had a very beautiful, sprightly 
young animal, and the young men admired her much 
when they brought her up to the door. I asked them 
if they would like to drive her down to church, and 
let me take a seat in the family carriage. They were 
pleased with the idea, and so was I, for it was a great 



128 Autobiography of Key. Luthek Lee. 

relief to me. I found a congregation in tlie clmrcli 
without a preacher, and I preached to them and dis- 
missed them for the day, and told them 1 was not 
feeling well, but would be on hand to commence my 
labors the next Sabbath. I stayed until Monday 
morning, and then started for home, which I reached 
in the afternoon, a well man. To be sure I felt de- 
bilitated, but all symptoms of the fever were gone, 
and I only had to gather up the little strength I had 
lost, which required but a day or two. It may be 
said my course was hazardous, or even presumptu- 
ous. It may have been so, but that it saved me from 
typhoid fever there can be no doubt. There were 
three things which contributed to throw off the fever, 
namely, my desperate resolution or will-power ; leav- 
ing the sick-room and the valley, and going on to 
Eutland Hill ; and the terrible action of the pills I 
took. 

As soon as my wife was strong enough we moved 
to our new charge. There was not at this time 
a better appointment than "Watertown, and not more 
than two as good. We enjoyed a very pleasant 
year on the whole, and had a revival in the winter, 
and some additions to the Church. During this year 
I issued my book against Universalism, which was 
thought at the time by good judges to be an able 
work. It was a pioneer work, and was timely, and 
did execution in its day. It is now out of print, 
as before stated. It is now over forty-five years since 



Attack cf Feves. 



129 



it was given to the public. This year, 1836, the Con- 
ference sat in Watertown, so that I had the care of 
it on my own hands. Bishop Waugh presided, who 
was a new Bishop, and this w^as a new Conference, it 
being the first session of the Black Eiver Conference. 
IsTothing occurred at this session which was of gen- 
eral interest. Two facts in regard to myseK trans- 
pired, which may be worthy of mention. 

In consequence of the series of poor-paying charges 
I had served prior to my last, Lowville, and the great 
sickness we had suffered, I had fallen behind in my 
finances. I was square with the world save a debt 
of about thirty dollars, which was due to the Book 
Eoom at New York. The representative present 
being rather urgent for his due, WTtS overheard press- 
ing me for his claim, whereupon, at the suggestion 
of Brother Dempster, the Conference put their hands 
in their pockets and paid my debt. 

The other fact was this : Brother Dempster intro- 
duced a resolution commendatory of my book against 
Ilniversalism, and urging the preachers to interest 
themselves in its sale. This resolution Bishop Waugh 
refused to entertain, saying the book was a private 
enterprise, and said that it was improper for the Con- 
ference ofiicially to indorse and recommend the sale 
of any book not issued by the Methodist Episcopal 
Book Eoom. Brother Dempster was a very modest 
man, and quietly took his seat, but chose his own 
occasion to seek redress. He had been my presiding 



130 Autobiography of Eey. Luther Lee. 

elder for three years, and, of course, had to repre- 
sent me in Conference. In those days, in the annual 
examination of character, when a member's name was 
called he retired, and the elder represented him in 
his absence, and others made any remarks they had 
to ofier. When my name was called, and I had re- 
tired beyond earshot, as I was told — for there are 
always some leaky persons in such bodies — Brother 
Dempster rose and pronounced a very remarkable 
eulogy. He spoke of my energy of character, of my 
industry and powers of endurance ; how I had writ- 
ten and issued a volume of three hundred pages 
Y/ithout intrenching, in the slightest degree, upon 
my ministerial and pastoral duties. " That book is 
as remarkable as its author ; it is a masterly produc- 
tion ; it is like himself, and every thing he lays his 
hand upon bears the stamp of greatness." It Y\^ill be 
thought this was extravagance. It may have been 
so, but if it was it was that peculiar kind of extrava- 
gance of which John Dempster was very capable. 



FuLTox Chakge. 



131 



CHAPTEE Xy. 

Appointed to Fulton Ciiarge— A very delightfu.1 Appoint- 
ment—Some Antislavery Members— My Antislavery Ex- 
perienee— The Antislavery Battle opened. 

EEOM the Watertown Conference I was sent to 
Fulton. This place is in Oswego County, on the 
Oswego Eiyer, about twelve miles up the river from 
Oswego City, on Lake Ontario. I found it a very 
desirable appointment, one of the best in the Confer- 
ence. Here I spent the happiest year I had yet en- 
joyed in my itinerant ministry. "We had a good re- 
vival and important additions to the Church. There 
were but two occurrences during the year demanding 
special attention. 

A young local preacher got into a discussion in a 
school-house a few miles out in the country, with a 
preacher of the Christian Church, sometimes called 
Christ-ians, They are a kind of Unitarian-Baptists. 
He called on me to help him, and I agreed to preach 
a sermon at the Christian minister, and he agreed to 
preach one at me. I preached upon the important 
subject of the divinity of Cln-ist, as that was the doc- 
trine in issue. He followed immediately, but was 
unable to follow my chain of closely-connected argu- 
ments, and got confused in his attempted reply, and 
left the subject, and spent the last half of his time in 



132 AUTOBIOGKAPHY OF ReY. LuTHER LeE. 

exliorting sinners to repent and come to Christ. He 
gave my young brother no more trouble. 

Hiram Mattison, since Dr. Mattison^ now in heaven, 
was then a young man, travehng Lysander Circuit, a 
little west of Fulton. He got into a public discussion 
with another Christian — Christ-ian — minister, who 
denied the divinity of Christ. After a drawn battle 
for a day or two, friends came to me and urged me 
to go out and take hold of the subject in defense of 
the divinity of Christ. I refused to have any thing 
to do v/ith it, without the mutual consent of the par- 
ties. The proposition being made, it was agreed to, 
with the proviso that the other side should have the 
right of bringing forward another man to meet me. A 
well-known man. Elder Moral, was sent for to confront 
me, and we met and crossed our swords. After a 
brief play, I laid down the following premises : Christ 
is essential divinity, or he is not. If hfe is essential 
divinity, the argument is at an end. If he is not es- 
sential divinity, w^hat is he ? We have a revelation 
of only three intellectual and moral natures : divine, 
angelic, and human. If he is really divine, the argu- 
ment is ended. Is he angelic or human ? I demand 
an answer. 

My opponent replied, " He is neither angelic nor hu- 
man, but all divine ; but not the eternal God. He is the 
Son God, and, of course, has the same nature of the 
Father, but is not as old. I have a son ; he possesses 
the nature that I do, but he is not as old as I am." 



FuLTO:^' ClIAEGE. 



133 



I replied: " Ton hear mj opponent deny the human- 
ity of Christ, and affirm that he is all divine, of the 
same nature of the Father, only not so old. Waiving 
all other objection to this theory, I will state but one, 
which must be fatal. The Son of God died, and as 
the Father and Son are of the same nature, and as the 
Son died, so may the Father die, and we have no cer- 
tain assurance that there will be a God on the throne 
to-morrow. To-morrow God may be dead." 

My opponent made an effort to extricate himself, 
but failed to do it even to his own satisfaction, and he 
picked up the books he had brought and started for 
his home. 

I found on Fulton Charge what I had never found 
on any other charge, namely, members of the Church 
who were active, working, antislavery men, and in con- 
nection with this fact commenced my own antislavery 
history. My attention had been called to the question, 
but it had made no very deep impression upon my 
mind. The American Antislavery Society was organ- 
ized in 1833, and its organization was followed by 
fearful mobs in the city of New York. The mob as- 
sailed the house of Arthur Tappan, who was president 
of the Society, and carried his furniture into the 
street and burned it up. They also committed some 
outrages upon the colored people. These and other 
like outrages in other places attracted my attention 
at the time, but while I condemned mob violence, I 
did not sympathize with the abolitionists, so-called by 



134 AUTOBIOGKAPHY OF EeY. LtJTIIEE LeE. 

their enemies. They cliose for themselves the title 
of antislavery men. The reason why 1 did not sympa- 
thize with them was, I had received all my information 
concerning them from the sayings and publications of 
their enemies, who greatly misrepresented them, and 
called them incendiaries, and other vile names, such as 
amalgamationists, negro-lovers, etc., and I was igno- 
rant of their real principles, measures, and motives. 
As they were attacked by the religious press I thought 
they must be a set of desperate fanatics. Light, how- 
ever, soon began to be disseminated. The General 
Conference of 1836, held in Cincinnati, discussed the 
subject. On the part of slave-holders it was discussed 
very violently, and they demanded silence on the part 
of the northern branch of the Church, and called upon 
the northern members to put their foot upon the abo- 
lition viper, and crush it out. How this could be 
done without discussing the subject was not yet so 
plain as it might have been, and as it was afterward 
made by the arbitrary attempts, on the part of the 
Northern Conferences, to crush antislavery ministers. 
While the Southern men were so violent in defense 
of slave-holding in the Church, the Kev. Orange 
Scott, of the E"ew England Conference, stood up alone 
on the other side, and made an able argument against 
slavery, both dignified and calm, without a single 
gleam of fanaticism from beginning to end. The con- 
trast was very marked. 

This Conference, also, by resolution, censured two 



Fulton Change. 



135 



of its members for attending an antislavery meeting. 
It also issued a Pastoral Address to tlie whole Chiircli, 
in which it advised all ministers and members to 
wholly refrain from discussing the slavery question. 
These facts set me to thinking more earnestly, and I 
began to feel troubled, though I said nothing which 
could commit me on either side. I had just emerged 
from an important doctrinal discussion, and had been 
absorbed in writing my book, and needed a breathing 
spell, and time to reflect before I made another plunge 
into the troubled waters of public discussion, so long 
as I could avoid it and maintain a good conscience. 
Yet I will be honest enough to confess that I believe 
I should have dashed into the discussion sooner than 
I did had it not been for my very strong Methodist 
predilections, and that the discussion seemed to me to 
involve the character and integrity of the Church. I 
had fought so many battles for her that I was slow 
to draw my sword against her. 

I was now for the first time brouf^ht face to face 
with members of my own Church who were aboli- 
tionists, whom I found to be good earnest Christians, 
who received me and treated me as kindly as the other 
members, though I made no antislavery profession. 
Things passed on quietly and the year closed, and I 
went to Conference with the blessing and prayers of 
the whole Church that I might be returned to them, 
and I was returned. 

The Conference for 1837 was held in Potsdam, St. 



136 AUTOBIOGKAPIIY OF ReV. LuTHEK LeE. 

Lawrence County, and was presided over by Bisliop 
Hedding. The Bishop came to ns from the Troy 
Conference, where there had been a severe struggle 
on the subject of slavery, and where he had delivered 
an address on the subject to the Conference, the ob- 
ject of which was to allay the abolition excitement, 
and to reconcile antislavery men to slave-holding in 
the Church, as it existed in the South. Though no 
issue had yet been made in the Black River Confer- 
ence on the subject, there were a few preachers who 
were understood to be antislavery men, and the Bishop 
took occasion to repeat his address to us. In this ad- 
dress the Bishop took the ground that slavery, as it 
existed and was practiced in the Methodist Episcopal 
Church, was justified by the Golden Eule. His lan- 
guage was, ''The right to hold a slave is founded 
upon this rule, ' All things whatsoever ye would that 
men should do to you, do you even so to them ; for 
this is the law and the prophets.' " The Conference 
passed without any antislavery explosion, or any one 
being driven to show his colors on the subject. 

I was appointed a commissioner to transact some 
business with the Oneida and Genesee Conferences, 
and was obliged to attend both. The Bishop repeat- 
ed his address at each of these Conferences, so I list- 
ened to the golden-rule argument for the third time, 
and was cloyed. There was considerable excitement 
in these Conferences, and each developed a strong 
antislavery feeling, especially the Genesee Confer- 



My Antislayeey Expeeience. 137 

ence. I kept quiet, and attended to the business on 
whicli I was sent, and meddled with nothing else. 

At the Genesee Conference the delivery of the 
Bishop's address was followed by a resolution, asking 
for a copy for publication, with which the Bishop 
complied. 

I roomed during the Conference with Dr. ISTathan 
Bangs, who said to me, " If I were in Bishop Hed- 
ding's place, I would not allow that address to be 
published." I asked him. Why ? He answered, I 
would not dare to make such a use of my influence ; 
that address, if published, will be understood, all 
through the South, as a defense of slavery." I said 
no more, but I thought some thoughts which burned 
within, and would have burned some others if they 
had been spoken loud enough to be heard. . 

A storm seemed gathering, clouds were seen loom- 
ing up here and there, and heavy thunder muttered 
in the distance; but we remained calm at Fulton 
until the death of Mr. Love joy, who was shot by a 
pro-slavery mob in JSTovember, 1837. I was stirred, 
and judged it wrong to remain silent any longer. I 
preached a sermon on the death of Mr. Love joy, in 
v/hich I condemned all mob violence, vindicated the 
principles for the utterance of which Mr. Lovejoy 
had been killed, and condemned slavery as an unmit- 
igated wrong. Having stated my views, I said: 
" For this declaration I may be denounced as an 
abohtionist ; " and then added, "If this is abolition- 



138 AUTOBIOGHAPHY OF EeV. LuTHER LeE. 

ism, tlien am I an abolitionist, and I would be glad, 
were it possible, to give my abolitionism a thousand 
tongues, and write it in letters of flame on tlie wings 
of every wind, to be seen and read of all men." 

This discourse produced considerable excitement, 
and a copy was asked for, for publication, and it was 
immediately given to the public. But, contrary to 
what might have been expected, it ]3roduced no divis- 
ion in the Church, and I continued to labor on, hav- 
ing the confidence and friendship of both parties. 
But it was not so abroad ; I was pronounced an abo- 
litionist, and there w^as at once a coldness manifested 
toward me among old friends ; some shunned me, 
some denounced me. The official organ of the Church, 
the ^'Christian Advocate and Journal," was severe 
against all abolitionists and abolition movements, and 
I soon found it necessary to defend the principles and 
measures of antislavery, as the only consistent method 
of defending myself. President Fisk, of Middle- 
town University, published an article on the death of 
Mr. Lovejoy, which, if it did not justify the mob, cen- 
sured the murdered man more than it did the murder- 
ers, and threw the responsibility of his death largely 
on himself, for having disregarded excited public sen- 
timent. The design of the article w^as to forestall and 
prevent any revulsive influence the outrage might 
have in favor of antislavery. It was in startling 
contrast with the sermon which I had just preached 
and published, insomuch that no one reading both 



My Antislayery Expeeiexce. 139 

could fail to see tliat one or tlie otlier must be fear- 
fully in error. 

President Fisk soon followed with a series of six 
articles, in wliich lie labored to sliow that the doc- 
trines and measures of the abolitionists were rcYolu- 
tionary in their character and tendency, and must, if 
persisted in, result in a dismemberment of the Church. 
These articles were an attack upon every abolitionist 
in the Church, and stigmatized them as schismatics 
and revolutionists and great sinners — for the sin of 
their course was forcibly dwelt upon. These articles 
were published in the official organ of the Church, 
which would not admit a word in reply. If not coun- 
teracted they would necessarily blast the reputation 
of every abolitionist in the Church, and this was what 
they were intended to do. I felt that I had a Chris- 
tian and ministerial reputation, which had cost me too 
many years of trial, too much hard labor, and too 
many sacrifices, to have it all swept away with a few 
dashes of a pen, wielded by one who had been once 
loud in my praise. I was stirred to the very core of 
m^y heart, and I replied with a boldness and power 
which friend and foe felt and acknowledged. Pro- 
slavery men even confessed that the articles of Dr. 
Fisk were annihilated, and excused the mentor, on 
the ground that he wrote his articles in great haste, 
amid the pressure of business, and wrote them too 
loosely, not expecting such a reviewer. 

As no reply could be made in the columns of the 



140 AlJTOBIOGEAPHT OF EeY. LuTHER LeE. 

Church organ in which the articles appeared, I used 
the cohimns of Zion's "Watchman," an independent 
Methodist antislavery paper, edited by Le Eoy Sun- 
derland. It is not possible to give even an outline of 
my rej)ly. I did not deny that the persistence of 
the antislavery men might end in a dismemberment 
of the Church, but insisted that there was no tend- 
ency in their principles or measures, in themselves, 
which would necessarily produce dismemberment, and 
if such should be the result the fault wou.ld be on 
the part of the opposers of abohtion. Any person 
could see that the proscriptive and oppressive pro- 
ceedings of the opposers of abohtion must tend to pro- 
duce division if persisted in. I also demonstrated that 
slavery was a great and God-defaming and humanity- 
corrupting and crushing evil in the Church, and that 
purity should not be sacrificed to union ; and that if 
the Church could not be purified from slavery with- 
out dismemberment it would be infinitely preferable 
to being held together by the bonds of human slav- 
ery, and being cemented by the blood of enslaved 
millions. These articles, while they powerfully coun- 
teracted the intended results of the articles to which 
they were a reply, sealed my destiny as a Methodist 
preacher, as results soon showed. 

I followed up my reply to President Fisk with a 
series of articles on the sinfulness of slavery in all 
circumstances. The storm gathered thicker and 
darker, and pro-slavery thunder was heard in every 



My AlS^TISLAYERY EXPEDIENCE. 141 

direction, and antislaYeiy men felt that tliey should 
have a better understanding with each other and a 
closer union. A conYention was called to assemble 
in Uticaj 'N. Y,, on the second day of May, to be 
composed of Methodist ministers and laymen. The 
conYention was regarded as a success. A Yery able 
address was deliYcred on the first CYening of the con- 
Yention on the connection of slaYcry with the Church 
by the Ecy. Orange Scott. On the second cYening of 
the conYention I lectured on ^'The Sinfulness of 
SlaYe-holding.'' Brother Scott was appointed a dele- 
gate to the English Wesleyan Conference, and I was 
appointed delegate to the Canada Wesleyan Con- 
ference. My mission to Canada will be noticed here- 
after. 

Kumors of persecution and proscription were waft- 
ed on eYcry breeze ; the atmosphere was hazy ; the 
skies were lowering and portentous, and no one knew 
where the next pro-slaYery thunderbolt would strike. 
It fell in the ITew York Conference, and it was a 
twenty-inch bomb, and exploded with great terror, 
wounded and crippled and killed. The 'New York 
trials must be made the subject of another chapter. 



142 AUTOBIOGEAPHY OF EeV. LuTHEK LeE. 



CHAPTEE XVI. 

The New York Trials— C. K. Triae and Others arraigned— 
My Defense of True— The other Trials and the Result— 
The Pro-slavery Programme divulged— Its Failure. 

THE ISTew York Conference for 1838 was held in 
'Sew York City in May, after the Utica conven- 
tion, noticed in the last chapter. Several preachers 
were arraigned and tried for their abolitionism, and as 
I acted a part in these trials they must have a place 
in my narrative, as they had in my life-scenes. The 
brethren sent for me to come down and defend them. 
It will be remembered that I was stationed at Fnlton, 
at the extreme northern border of the State, where 
the abolition wrath had been less severe than more 
central and sonthern parts, and I was not yet fully 
aware of the terrible rancor of the enemies of aboli- 
tion, and undertook the case of the brethren in Sew 
York in good faith, hoping to be able successfully to 
defend them. Yain hope ! their destiny was settled 
before they were notified that charges would be pre- 
ferred against them, as I afterward learned. On 
reaching the Conference I had not breathed its at- 
mosphere fifteen minutes before I was notified that 
all efforts in behalf of the brethern would be unavail- 
ing. As Brother C. K. True was the first to be tried, 
I frankly told him that I had no hope of successfully 



The New York Trials. 



143 



defending him, that the judgment in his case had 
been made up for two weeks, and nothing could 
change it. I told himx further 1 could have no motive 
in defending him only to assert the great principles 
involved, as I could not get him clear, and I did not 
wish to stand up before that Conference and assert 
great principles and have him back out of them as 
soon as I had asserted them on his behalf. He 
]3ledged me that he would stand by the principles 
and never yield if it cost his standing as a minister, 
and I went into the trial as his advocate. 

The general charge was '^contumacy and insubor- 
dination.'' The specifications were : 

1. Violation of his pledge made at the last Con- 
ference not to agitate the slavery question. 

" 2. Aiding in the publication of an antislavery 
tract. 

^' 3. Attending an antislavery convention at TJtica." 

1^0 proof was offered, as nothing was denied. The 
first specification, charging him with violating his 
pledge, turned on the construction put upon words, 
and not upon any conduct of the defendant. He 
denied no word or act laid to his charge, and the trial 
proceeded simply upon the arguments of the parties. 
The Eev. Peter P. Sandford, an old and very able 
minister of the Conference, appeared as prosecuting 
attorney, and made a masterly argument of the kind, 
yet much of it was exceedingly fallacious and absurd. 
As my only object is to give my defense as a part of 



14.4 Autobiography of Eev. Luther Lee. 

niy own active life, I shall leave tlie reader to under- 
stand the positions of the prosecution from my de- 
fense, which will appear plain. I labored under great 
disadvantages, having the chair and the whole Con- 
ference against me, looking daggers at me, and ready 
to throw every possible difficulty in my w^ay, resort- 
ing to the smallest quibbles and technicalities. In- 
deed, they were determined I should not have a 
hearing on the subject of slavery. It required nerve 
to stand up in such circumstances, and I nerved my- 
self for the work as best I could. I knew nothing 
was to be gained by a modest, diffident manner, and I 
struck out boldly. 

Brother True opened the defense with an argu- 
ment on the charge of violating his pledge. He 
insisted that that pledge was not what the prosecu- 
tion claimed it was, and that if it would admit of the 
construction they put upon it he did not so under- 
stand it. And he argued very ingeniously that the 
understanding which he had of the pledge at the 
time alone could determine his responsibility in the 
premises. He having finished his argument on that 
point, I took the floor and proceeded as follows : 

" Bishop and brethren : I appear before you as the 
advocate of an accused brother whose innocence I 
am anxious to maintain, and regret that I can bring 
to the aid of my argument no personal prestige, hav- 
ing been denied the common civilities in your body 
usually accorded to members of a sister Conference." 



The New York Trials. 



145 



Bishop Hedding, who was in the chair, sprang 
upon his feet, and said, " I do not know what you 
mean by saying you have not been treated civilly." 
I did not give the Bishop time to say more before I 
replied : " Bishop, I mean just v/hat I say. You, 
Bishop, in the presence of other Conferences, have 
taken me by the hand and said, ' It gives me pleasure 
to introduce to you Brother Lee, of the Black Eiver 
Conference.' You have not recognized me here, and 
I have had no introduction to this body." At this 
sally the people in the gallery cheered me for my 
boldness. Dr. Bangs jumped up in a great rage and 
moved that the gallery be cleared. To this some one 
objected, a little discussion followed, and it was con- 
cluded not best to clear the gallery. 

I resumed : The general charge of contumacy 
and insubordination contains nothing on which any 
man can be convicted in the absence of all proof, nor 
do the specifications affirm any thing wrong ; the 
criminality, therefore, if there is any, must be looked 
for in the arguments of the counsel on the other 
side, and to them I will direct my attention. On 
the first specification you have listened to an able de- 
fense from Brother True, and I will not detain you 
with further argument about the construction to be 
put upon a vaguely-written pledge, but interpose a 
higher ground of defense than Brother True has 
claimed for himself. If the pledge was what the 

prosecution claim for it it was wrong, such a pledge 
10 



14:6 AUTOBIOGKAPHY OF ReY. LuTIIEK LeE. 

as no man has a right to give, and can have no mor- 
ally binding force. God commands Brother True, 
and every other man, to open his month for the 
dnmb, and to " remember those in bonds as bound 
with them ; " and if he gave a pledge not to agitate 
the slavery question he committed a crime ; and if 
he has violated that pledge, as claimed, he has only 
redeemed himself from his former error. The sound- 
ness of this ground of defense depends upon the fact 
that slavery is wrong and antislavery right, and that 
it is always right to oppose wrong and to practice 
what is right. The counsel on the other side has at- 
tempted to forestall this argument by laboring to 
prove that slavery is not wrong in all circumstances, 
and in particular as it exists in the Methodist Episco- 
pal Church. There may be a difference of opinion 
in regard to what is the doctrine of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church on the subject of slavery. The 
opposing counsel has affirmed that the Methodist 
Episcopal Church does not, and never did, hold that 
slavery is a sin jper se. To save all discussion on 
doubtful points as to what is the doctrine of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church, I will plant my argu- 
ment on the rock of eternal justice and on the God- 
given and inalienable rights of humanity, by denying 
that slavery can be right in any circumstances. I 
am happy to plant the defense of my brother upon 
this ground, feeling confidence in my ability to main- 
tain it." 



The New York Teials. 147 



At tliis point the chair called me to order, and said : 
" You have no right to discuss the general question of 
slavery ; it is not in the record." 

I replied : " I know it is not in the record, but it 
is in the argument of the counsel on the other side. 
I must have the right to prove that slavery is wrong, 
as the counsel on the other side has been allowed to 
argue that slavery is right, as practiced in the Meth- 
odist Episcopal Church.'' 

At this point Dr. Bangs moved that the decision 
of the chair be sustained, and it was put and carried 
before I could say another word. It was the most 
unfair proceeding I ever witnessed in any trial, but I 
had no redress. Not another word was I allowed to 
utter against slavery, only as I could sift it in, mixed 
up with other issues. It was probably intended to 
confuse me and break me down, no less than to keep 
out the question of slavery. But I stood firm and 
rallied, and, dropping my argument against slavery, I 
seized upon the next point, and proceeded as follows : 

" The brother is charged with contumacy and in- 
subordination in having disregarded and violated the 
advice of the General Conference. This point has 
been argued with great earnestness, and the argument 
demands an earnest reply and critical review in justice 
to my client. The argument is first based upon the 
advice of the General Conference, which, it has been 
claimed, has the force of law. The language of the 
General Conference is as follows : 



148 AUTOBIOGEAPHY OF KeY. LuTHER LeE. 

" ' This subject [slavery and abolition] has been 
brought before us at the present session, and, by al- 
most a unanimous vote, highly disapproved of ; and 
while we would tenderly sympathize with those of 
our brethren who, as we believe, have been led astray 
by this agitating topic, we feel it our imperative duty 
to express our decided disapprobation of the measures 
they have pursued to accomplish their ends. . . . 
These facts constrain us to exhort you to abstain from 
all abolition movements and associations, and to re- 
frain from patronizing any of their publications, , . . 
We have come to the solemn conviction that the only 
safe, scriptural, and prudent way for us, both as min- 
isters and people, to take, is wholly to refrain from 
this agitating subject.' 

" Whatever consideration this may be entitled to 
as advice, it is only advice, and has not the first ele- 
ment of law, and cannot be tortured into law or be 
enforced as law upon any person. Advice is counsel 
or an opinion offered for consideration ; law is a rule 
of action to be obeyed without question. If advice 
on one subject can be enforced as law, all advice must 
be law on the same principle. This no man will al- 
low or submit to. 

. " There is advice in the Discipline itself. We read 
in chap, i, sec. 17 : 

" ' We advise you, as often as possible, to rise at 
four. From six in the morning till twelve (allowing 
an hour for breakfast) read, with much prayer, some 



The Xew Yokk Tkials. 



149 



of our best religious tracts.' ^ Will joii say that 
this is law, and that every brother who does not read 
tracts five hours a day is liable to expulsion ? 

Bnt this position of the identity of advice and law 
has been attempted to be strengthened against the 
accused by the action of the Conference at its last 
session. The following is the resolution which has 
been so earnestly urged : 

" 'Resolved, That this Conference fully concur in 
the advice of the late General Conference, as ex- 
pressed in their Pastoral Address.' 

" It was the advice of the General Conference this 
Conference concurred in, and as it was advice before 
they concurred in it, so it was ad\dce and only advice 
after they had concurred in it. Their concurrence 
did not make it more than advice. This Conference 
has no power to change the advice of the General 
Conference into law. 

" The counsel on the other side attempted further to 
strengthen his argument by an appeal to the tweKth 
rule of a preacher, which is, ' Act in all things, not 
according to your own will, but as a son in the Gos- 
pel. As such it is your duty to employ your tim.e in 
the manner which we direct. Above all, if you labor 
with us in the Lord's vineyard, it is needful that 
you should do that part of the work which we ad- 
vise at those times and places which we judge most 
for his glory.' 

* This was then in the Discipline. 



150 AUTOBIOGKAPHY OF EeV. LuTIIER LeE. 

" T wo remarks will set this matter right : 
" 1. The rule relates to our oflBcial work as minis- 
ters, and not to our private matters or any thing 
•which we may do without interfering with our proper 
calling as ministers. This is clear from the language 
of the rule ; it speaks of the time and place of our 
labors, and hence has reference to the appointing 
power. If it were shown that Brother True has re- 
fused to labor at the time and place assigned him by 
the appointing power, there would be ground of com- 
plaint, but it is not charged that he has neglected his 
work. 

"2. As the rule relates to our work as ministers it 
cannot forbid or command what does not belong to 
our ministerial labor ; nothing, therefore, can be con- 
strued into a violation of the rule which can be done 
without neglecting the work assigned us by the ap- 
pointing power. 

" The counsel on the other side has labored hard to 
sustain the charge of contumacy and insubordination 
by urging that the defendant's conduct is a violation 
of his ordination vows. There are two vows which 
every minister takes. "When he is ordained a deacon 
the following vow is taken of him : 

" ' Will you reverently obey them to whom the gov- 
ernment over you is committed, following with a 
glad mind and will their godly admonitions ? ' 

" "When a minister is ordained an elder the follow- 
ing vow is taken of him : 



The Xew Yoek Trials. 



151 



^' ' Will you reverently obey your cliief ministers, 
unto whom is committed the charge and government 
over you, following with a glad mind and will their 
godly admonitions, submitting yourself to their godly 
judgments ? ' 

These pledges constitute not only the stronghold 
of this prosecution, but the last hold ; if it fails here 
it must fail altogether, and so the opposing counsel 
appears to have understood it from the time and 
power he spent upon them. I will not follow the 
meanderings of his argument, but rely upon a clear 
and obvious interpretation of those vows which must 
address itseK to every man's common sense and con- 
science. 

" 1. There must be some law for the commands and 
admonitions of our chief ministers to render them 
binding and to render their disregard a capital of- 
fense. 

The promise to obey our chief ministers can mean 
no more than obedience to their constitutional author- 
ity. If it can be extended to one tiling for which 
no constitution or statute law can be produced 
their power to command must be unlimited, and we 
are all sold. "When I promised to obey my chief 
ministers it was with the understanding that it com- 
prehended only their constitutional authority, and 
this only I ever have and still do hold myself bound 
to obey. 

" 2. It is their godly admonitions which we have all 



152 AuTOBioaRAPHY OF Eev. Luther Lee. 

promised to follow, and it is their godly judgments 
to whicli we have all promised to submit. 

" Two things are required to render their admoni- 
tions and judgments godly in any proper sense of the 
vow taken. 

"To be godly their admonitions and judgments 
must relate to those matters and those only in regard 
to which they have a constitutional right to direct 
or control our course. 

" To admit that we have pledged ourselves to obey 
one whisper of admonition or judgment beyond their 
clearly-defined constitutional authority would be to 
confess that as Methodist ministers we have re- 
nounced all our rights as men and Christians, and 
placed our judgments, wills, and consciences in the 
keeping of our chief ministers. I declare I have 
never knowingly done such a thing, and the longer I 
live the more I see the propriety of not doing it. 

"To be godly their admonitions and judgments, 
even in those matters where the constitution clothes 
them with anthority, must be according to truth and 
righteousness. Not all the authority of both Church 
and State can place any human being under obliga- 
tion to perform one wrong act or release one from 
the obligation to perform one moral duty. If slavery 
is a moral wrong, and God requires us to oppose all 
sin, there can be no advice, admonition, or command 
which can lay us under the slightest obligation to 
' w^holly refrain from the agitating subject.' No 



The New York Teials. 



153 



one can glance at the consequences of denying these 
positions without being convinced of their truth. 

" 1. If one tiling, which is not matter of law, and 
which is not of moral obligation in itself, can be ren- 
dered binding by the advice or command of a chief 
minister, then every thing they see fit to advise or 
command must becom.e binding upon the same prin- 
ciple, and we shall be upon the border of popery, if 
not quite over the line. 

" 2. If one thing, which is not forbidden in the 
word of God, nor in the Disciphne, can be made an ec- 
clesiastical offense worthy of expulsion by the advice, 
admonition, judgment, or command of a chief min- 
ister, we have no security for our standing in the 
Church, and are at the mercy of the will of our chief 
ministers. If I believed that the ordination vows 
which I took really mean what has been claimed for 
them by the prosecuting counsel in this case I would 
recant them before closing my eyes in sleep to-night. 

" Whatever may be the decision of this Conference 
to-day, let me predict that there is a day coming, and 
it is not very far off, when it will be no crime to pub- 
lish antislavery tracts, to attend antislavery conven- 
tions, and to denounce slavery in the Church, or in 
the State, wherever it may be found."^ In conclusion, 

* This prediction, though uttered in the face of the strongest 
northern pro-slavery Conference, and at the darkest hour of the anti- 
slavery battle in the Church, has been gloriously fulfilled, and he 
who uttered it has lived, through the mercy of God, to see the 
triumph. 



151 Autobiography of Eey. Luther Lee. 

if this brother must be condemned to an ecclesiastic- 
al death for publisliing an antislavery tract, for at- 
tending an antislavery convention, or for pleading the 
cause of the enslaved millions of our land, let him 
die and enjoy a martyr's crown, and let his grave be 
unknown ; and when antislavery shall have triumphed, 
when the Church shall be purified from the pollution 
and guilt of slavery, and its foul blot shall be washed 
from the folds of the stars and stripes, and the chains 
of slavery shall be stricken from the millions in bonds, 
then, and not till then, let his monument be erected, 
and his epitaph written." 

The arguments being closed the Conference soon 
disposed of the case by convicting Brother True and 
suspending him from the ministry. 

The case of James Floy was called next, and 
he made his own defense, and an able one it was ; but 
it availed nothing; he was also convicted and sus- 
pended. Then the case of David Plumb was called, 
and resulted in the same way. 

These brethren then gave a pledge to the Con- 
ference not to agitate the slavery question, and were 
restored. Plumb would pledge himself only not to agi- 
tate the slavery question while he remained a mem- 
ber of the Conference, intending to locate after his 
suspension w^as removed. But when he asked for a 
location the Conference refused to give him one. 
The Bishop appointed him to Delaware Circuit, he 
protesting that he could not go to it on account of 



The Neav Yokk Trials. 



155 



family circumstances, which was true. It was one 
of the most remote and hardest circuits in the Con- 
ference, on the Delaware River, among the mount- 
ains. He did not go to it, and at the next Conference 
they expelled him for not going to his charge. 

At this time, and for some time after, there was 
some person connected with the Methodist Book 
Eoom who had means of knowing the secret coun- 
sels, and who reported to some of the antislavery 
men what to look out for. Who this was I never 
knew nor cared. I only knew that the information I 
received came to me throurfi a reliable channel. 
From this source I learned that a plan was formed to 
crush out all the leading abolitionists. The work 
was to begin in the New York Conference ; then Dr. 
Bangs was to go to the New England Conference 
and prefer charges against Orange Scott and others ; 
then to perform the same work in the Troy, Black 
River, Oneida, and Genesee Conferences, and the work 
would be finished in the spring Conferences. Of 
course I was marked for decapitation in the Black 
River Conference. These facts I learned while at- 
tending the New York trials. To say that this in- 
formation did not disturb me would be to say I 
was more than human. I was excited, but it was 
only for an hour, when, after reflection, I calmed 
down into a firm resolve, from which nothing conld 
shake me, to stand firm and fight to the last. To be 
sure, it required nerve and courage, for I was a poor 



156 AuTOBlOGRxiPHY OF ReV. LuTHEK LeE. 

man, with a family of six cliiklren, dependent upon 
my profession for a support. 

They had been entirely successful in the 'New York 
Conference, but how they would succeed in the other 
Conferences was doubtful. I could form no certain 
opinion of the result in my own Conference ; we had 
never had a struggle. I only knew that there w^as 
one man who, if he must fall, would fall with ar- 
mor on, with his face to the foe. I returned home 
after the trials in IsTew York, and resumed my labors. 
The time passed rapidly; the New England Con- 
ference met, charges were preferred against Orange 
Scott, and Bishop Bedding appeared as prosecutor, 
and the power of his influence, eloquence, and tears 
were exerted to overthrow Brother Scott. The 
Bishop had become greatly excited over some criti- 
cisms on his pro-slavery administration, and he was 
really extravagant in his efforts to secure the con- 
viction of Scott, but he failed. Scott came out of the 
trial without even a censure. 

Next came the Troy Conference, and the pro-slav- 
ery powers were again defeated. They met a spirit 
and power they did not expect. The onslaught was 
made upon a brilliant young man, by the name of 
Spooner, who was arrested on charges growing out of 
his abolitionism. Tliose who sympathized with Broth- 
er Spooner, exerted themselves to prevent a trial, by 
quieting and reconciling things, not wishing to come 
to an open rupture, as they knew would be the case if 



The New Yoek Teials. 



157 



the trial proceeded ; but tlieir efforts were in vain ; 
the pro-slavery bull-dog smelled blood, and blood he 
was determined to have. This brought a crisis, and 
the Rev. Cyrus Prindle stepped forward and said: 
" If you are determined to press this to a trial, I am 
ready to meet it ; it may as well be met now as ever ; 
I stand with the brother, and I shall contest it to the 
bitter end, and if he falls I pledge you he will not 
fall alone. Proceed as soon as you please." Brother 
Prindle was then in his prime he had for years been 
one of the leading spirits of the Conference, always 
mild and unassuming in manner, yet firm and strong. 
He was roused, and the flash of his eye and the deep 
intonations of his voice startled the Conference. They 
paused, the charges were withdrawn, and the brother's 
character was passed. Another defeat was sustained, 
and the programme was abandoned, and no foreign 
prosecutor appeared at the Black Eiver Conference 
with charges against me. 



158 AUTOBIOGKAPIIY OF HeV. LuTIIEK LeE. 



CHAPTER XYII. 

My Mission to the Canada Conference — Its Failure — News- 
paper Discussion in regard to it — The Conference — Anti- 
slavery Excitement — Charges Preferred against Me and 
again Withdrawn — My Location. 

IT was stated in a previous chapter that I was ap- 
pointed by the Utica Antislavery Convention a 
delegate to the Canada Wesleyan Conference to rep- 
resent the sentiments of the antislavery Methodists of 
the States. The Conference met in Kingston, in 
midsnmmer, and I attended, but failed to obtain a 
hearing as a representative of an antislavery conven- 
tion. I had an interview with the president, who 
was appointed by the English Conference. I found 
him a gentleman, and while he assured me that they 
all sympathized with me in my antislavery principles, 
they could not receive as a delegate to the Conference 
any person coming from an unofficial body. More- 
over, he stated that there were three other brethren 
from the States who assured him that to admit me as 
a delegate would give great offense to the Methodist 
Episcopal Church, and he thought it not best to dis- 
turb the friendly relations between the two bodies. 
In all other respects than the failure of my mission 
my visit to the Canada Conference was exceedingly 
pleasant. I made no report, as there was no body to 



My Mission to Canada Confeeence. 159 

report to, the convention that appointed me having 
gone back into its original elements. 

The three brethren from the States were J esse T. 
Peck, C. W, Leet, and A. J. Phelps. These brethren 
forestalled me, and were there for the express pur- 
pose of preventing my reception, and they had been 
there two days when I arrived. It is not probable 
that I should have been received in my official capac- 
ity as a delegate from the Utica Convention had those 
brethren not been present, yet I am and ever have 
been willing that they should enjoy all the credit of 
securing my exclusion. 

Brother Peck gave an account of his visit to the 
Canada Conference in the " Christian Advocate and 
Journal" of July 13, 1838. His account, among 
other things, contained the following concerning 
myself : 

Rev, Luther Lee, delegate from the Utica Antislavery Con- 
vention, was present during a part of the session, but before 
any of us arrived. The leading members of the Conference 
resolved that they could not receive him in that office. The 
meeting by which he was appointed was considered by the 
Methodist Episcopal Church as illegitimate and revolutionary 
in its tendency. The leading measures were deemed by our 
General Conference and principal men as schismatical and 
highly dangerous. They could not, therefore, consistently 
with the friendly relations existing between the great bodies 
of Methodists, receive their representatives, or extend to them 
in any sense their official sanction. 

I believed the above misrepresented the facts, as I 
was not there before they arrived, w^hile they were 



160 Autobiography of Eev. Luther Lee. 

there two days before I arrived. Also in some other 
points I judged the account iinf air^ and replied to It 
in " Zion's Watchman/' as I could get no hearing in 
the " Christian Advocate and Journal." I was a lit- 
tle stung and wrote rather sharply, and some of my 
remarks may appear somewhat ironical. As my re- 
ply was made the basis of charges against me at the 
Conf erence, I give the article in full : 

"The Cajstada Conference." 

Mr. Editor : The above is the title of an article published 
in the 619th number of the ''Christian Advocate and Jour- 
nal," from the pen of Rev. J. ^. Peck, which, from the allu- 
sion it makes to myself, is entitled to a few moments of my 
attention. 

The first thing I wish to correct is a mistake which I sup- 
pose the printer has made — for I cannot suppose that Rev. 
Prof. Peck would make such a mistake. The printer then 
makes Brother Peck say that ''Rev. Luther Lee, delegate 
from the Utica Antislavery Convention, w^as present during a 
part of the time, but before any of us arrived." Now, the truth 
is, I did not arrive at the seat of the Conference until Brother 
Peck and his associates had been there tw^o days, nor did I 
leave until some hours after they took their departure. And 
I may remark that I should not have left as soon as I did had 
I not taken a formal leave of the Conference, at the earnest 
request of Brother Peck, wdio insisted upon my making an 
address to the Conference in behalf of all the brethren pres- 
ent from the States, and which, after much urging, I con- 
sented to. 

Again, Brother Peck says: "The leading members of the 
Conference resolved that they could not receive him in that 
office." If by this Brother Peck means, as the language im- 
ports, that such a resolution was passed in a conference 



My Mission to Ca:n-ada Confeeence. 161 



capacity, or in any other associated capacity, to speak veiy 
modestly, I think he is mistaken. If it be so I will be very 
thankful for a true copy and the resolution, for I have not to 
this day been informed of any such resolve, nor of any thing 
like it on the subject. If the leading members of the Canada 
Conference had any such proceeding, of which I have not 
been informed, I shall be happy to stand corrected on the 
receipt of the information. On conversing with some of the 
leading members of the Conference I was referred to the 
president, who gave me the following statement of his views. 
The venerable father said they were with the abolitionists in 
principle, and that we might rest assured of their sympathies 
and their prayers, but that he thought it would be improper 
to receive me in a conference capacity as an antislavery dele- 
gate, lest it should disturb the friendly relations between the 
two bodies. Indeed, this was the principal objection, and 
about all the one I heard mentioned; and that such an objec- 
tion should exist was not strange, nor even unexpected to 
myself. What other state of things could have been expected 
in view of the course pursued by the Christian Advocate 
and Journal," and in view of the fact that Brother Peck was 
present two days before I arrived, and assured them that if 
they received me it would most certainly break friendship 
between the two connections, as he told me he did so assure 
them ? 

As to what Brother Peck says of the antislavery principles 
of the Canada Conference, I have only to remark that if they 
embrace the views of President Fisk, Bishop Hedding, and 
the Rev. N. Bangs, I have very much mistaken the views of 
the one or the other, for I suppose them to be abolitionists in 
the common acceptation of the term. If the brethren in Can- 
ada think this is a misstatement of their views, I shall take it , 
very kindly if they will correct my mistake, for I do not wish 
to entertain wrong views of them or of any other class of 
men. 

Luther Lee. 

Fulton, July 20, 1838. 
11 



162 AuTOBioaKAPHY OF Rey. Luthek Lee. 

That I was not regarded as an intruder and nnwel- 
come by the Canada Conference is certain from the 
notice which the " Christian Gnardian/' their organ, 
gave of my attendance. After stating that " During 
the greater part of the proceedings of the late Con- 
ference, held at Kingston, several preachers from the 
United States were present and took part in the pro- 
ceedings," it added, concerning myself, '^Eev. 
Luther Lee delivered an able and beautiful address 
on the public admission of the young men into full 
connection v/ith the Conference. Mr. Lee forcibly 
remarked that civil discord had howled like a storm 
along the border, yet the religious part of the com- 
munity had no participation in those hostile and law- 
less proceedings." 

The Black Eiver Conference for 1838 held its 
session in Fulton, so I had the care of providing for 
it upon my own hands. It assembled not long after 
the events described above, and there seemed to be a 
w^hispering murmur of trouble in the atmosphere, yet 
nothing definite was known. Two Bishops appeared 
at the Conference — Plodding and Morris. Morris pre- 
sided ; but he was a new Bishop, and Bishop Hed- 
ding was by his side to support him, if need required. 
There were present some other brethren from abroad. 
Conference proceeded quietly until my name was 
called, when Jesse T. Peck objected to the passage of 
my character and preferred charges against me. 
This sent a thrill through the whole Conference and 



Chakges Peefeeeed agaikst Me. 163 

produced great excitement tliroiigli tlie entire com- 
munity, for it spread as on the wings of tlie wind. I 
may be permitted to say that I had the respect and 
confidence of that entire commnnity ; even the op- 
posers of abolitionism respected me as a Christian and 
a minister. The charges were based wholly on my 
reply to Brother Peck, given on page 160, and hence 
the reader has the whole of my offending before him. 
There may have been some facts and circnmstances 
understood at the" time which gave point to my arti- 
cle which cannot be fnlly appreciated now, but all 
the words are given. 

Bishop Morris asked me if I was ready for trial. 
I replied that I was not ; that I wanted until to-mor- 
row morning to prepare my defense, as I had much 
care on my mind in connection with the Conference, 
and that I wanted a leisure hour to arrange my de- 
fense. The Bishop replied that I could have all the 
time I desired. " Then," said I, " make it the order 
of the day for ten o'clock to-morrow forenoon." This 
was agreed to. My object was secured, which was 
to have the trial appointed for a definite hour, which 
would give the community an opportunity to attend, 
for I knew they would be there. The former cus- 
tom of sitting with closed doors had now been aban- 
doned, and if any attempt should be made to renew 
it on this occasion I was determined to resist it to the 
bitter end, and not submit to a trial other than in 
public. A silent night hour was devoted to the work 



164: AUTOBIOGEAPHY OF ReY. LuTHER LeE. 

of arranging brief notes of the points in my defense, 
and I went into Conference next morning fully pre- 
pared for battle. I was not confident in regard to 
the result — the Conference had never been brought 
to a test-vote on the question — nor was this the first 
thought in my mind. I was becoming a little des- 
perate, feeling that the course the authorities and of- 
ficial organs of the Church were pursuing would, if 
it had not already done it, cripple or destroy my use- 
fulness as a Methodist minister in the regular work. 
I intended to make a determined defense of princi- 
ples and measures rather than of my personal charac- 
ter. As to my accuser, I felt sure I had given him 
no more occasion of complaint than he had me in the 
article to which I replied, and my defense was in- 
tended to be most terribly severe on him ; and, as I 
was roused — fearfully roused — roused as I was prob- 
ably never before or since — I have no doubt I should 
have succeeded in being severe if in nothing else. I 
have ever since been thankful to God that I was not 
forced to make that defense. 

Ten o'clock came ; the seats and gallery were crowd- 
ed with anxious lookers-on. The case was called, and 
the Bishop inquired of me if I was ready. My an- 
swer was, "Eeady." At this point Brother Peck 
rose, and, with some appropriate remarks in rather a 
tone of kindness, withdrew the charges, assigning as 
a reason that he had been pressed and overborne by 
the leading members of the Conference, who had 



The Chaeges Withdeaw^^. 1G5 

urged him to this course. He had not changed his 
mind ; he still believed he had just ground of com- 
plaint ; but he yielded to the earnest persuasion of 
his brethren, and, as between him and Brother Lee, 
he would drop the matter, and say no more about it. 
I responded that I would reciprocate Brother Beck's 
good feelings, and we would try to be friends. My 
character was passed, as a matter of course. Still, 
the fact that charges had been preferred against me 
in oj)en Conference, and the excitement which had 
been roused within me, were not so soon disposed of. 
Thoughts surged in my mind as the ocean waves roll 
after the wind that raised them has ceased to blow. 
Meantime I had learned, from a whisperer of secrets, 
that I was to be sent to Oswego Station. This was 
true, for the Bishop, who, being a stranger, did not 
understand the relative desirableness of appointments, 
told me it had been intended to send me to Oswego. 
This was in 1838, and the great financial revulsion 
of 1837 had nearly prostrated Oswego, and the Meth- 
odist Episcopal Church in particular, so that it was 
doubtful if a preacher could be sustained there. This 
appointment was urged by the presiding elder on the 
ground that the better charges in the district would 
not receive me on account of my abolition views. 
This I knew was incorrect ; there were good charges 
in the district who would have been glad to have 
received me as their preacher, for my abolitionism 
had not interfered with my ministerial duties, nor 



166 AUTOBIOGEAPIIY OF EeY. LuTHER LeE. 

produced a ripjDle of trouble among the people of 
my charge. My knowledge of facts left no doubt in 
my mind that the appointment was intended to pun- 
ish me for, or to crush out, my abolitionism, and I could 
not consent to labor under a system of proscription 
for my opinions, and I asked for and obtained a 
location. 

It was then 1838 5 it is now 1881, Forty-threG 
years have swept through between the two dates. 
The two Bishops who were present at that Confer- 
ence have gone with the years, and most of the 
members of the Conference have passed away. 
Among the few that remain is Bishop Peck, who 
was then my accuser. It is proper to say that the 
hatchet between us has been buried for long years ; 
and though we met not again until 1878, when I 
joined him in East Saginaw, at his own telegraphic 
request, long years since I wote his name among 
my personal friends whom I respect and lo y8. 



Farewell to Fulton. 



167 



CHAPTEE XVIII. 

Farewell to Fulton— Engaged, as an Antislavery Agent— 
The Work Begun— Mobs and Rumors of Mobs— Albany, 
West Troy, and Seiieneetady— Home Again. 

IMMEDIATELY after mjlocation^ even before tlie 
Conference closed, I accepted of an agency for tlie 
New York State Antislavery Society, to lecture at 
large through the State. Some brethren present from 
the Oneida Conference nrged me to come to their 
Conference, which would meet in a few days, and 
present my certificate of location, assuring me that I 
would be received and given a good appointment ; 
but I declined, and entered upon my agency. I 
could not move before the Sabbath, and the new 
preacher was on hand, stopping after Conference. 
Eev. C. W. Leet was my successor, and, being one of 
the strongest opposers of abolition, I suppose he did 
not feel quite safe to go home and leave me there 
among my old friends without watching. He in- 
tended to occupy the pulpit all day, but as I had 
preached no farewell sermon or taken public leave of 
the congregation and community, my friends were so 
urgent that Brother Leet yielded, and I was invited 
to occupy the pulpit for a farewell address. I re- 
viewed my two-years' labor among them, tendered 
them my thanks for their uniform kindness, for no 



168 AUTOBIOGEAPHY OF EeY. LuTHEI^ LeE. 

person had treated me imkindly, and then I gave my 
reasons for the course I had taken, and justified my- 
self for advocating the cause of the slave. The last 
part gave great offense to Brother Leet, and he came 
very near boiling over. That, however, was his busi- 
ness, and not mine. After the Sabbath 1 commenced 
preparation for moving. I had resolved to locate my 
family in Utica, and our means of transportation was 
a canal boat, which would pass Fulton in the night, 
and we had to be all ready, with our goods packed 
and on the dock ready to throw aboard, and ourselves 
had to be up and waiting. The boats blew a horn on 
approaching a station. Our last day having come in 
Fulton, and every thing being ready, we found a 
shelter and waiting-place until the boat should come 
in the family of Brother James Whittaker. It would 
be after midnight, and we had now six children, 
ranging in age from twelve years to eighteen 
months. 

Brother "Whittaker, with whom we spent our last 
part of a night, was a prominent member of the 
Church, and one of the most bitter enemies of aboli- 
tion in the Church ; and yet he stood by me to the 
last, urged me to his house, and when the boat horn 
sounded, he was up at a bound, and helping to rouse 
the children, and get them and our hand baggage 
down to the boat ; and after seeing us and all our 
effects on board the boat, we shook hands, and our 
intercourse was closed forever. He has been dead 



ENGAGED AS AN AnTISL AVERY AgEXT. 169 

for many years, and, I trust, lias found a home in 
lieaven. 

I had two reasons for locating myself in TJtica. 
The first was, that was the head-quarters of the State 
Antislavery Society I was to serve ; the second was, 
the Methodist Church there was so thoroughly aboli- 
tionized that my standing as a local preacher would 
be perfectly secure in the Quarterly Conference. 'No 
charges for antislavery could be prosecuted against 
me with success. 

My family was soon settled, and I was in the field 
at my work. To give a detailed account of my la- 
bors as an antislavery lecturer is impossible, as it 
would more than fill my intended volume. I will 
give a few of the most interesting events which oc- 
curred during my efforts in this field of labor. 
There were already antislavery societies organized in 
various localities, and "where they were not, it was 
my duty to organize them so far as I could. In 
Utica there was a Wesleyan antislavery society, 
which, of course, meant Methodist. At the close 
of one of my lectures before this society one hun- 
dred and thirty names were added to its roll of 
members. 

I soon found that the path of an antislavery lect- 
urer was not a smooth one ; opposition gathered on 
every hand, and violence seemed the order of the 
day. In many places I got a large and attentive 
hearing, and in such cases I never failed to convert 



170 AUTOBIOGEAPHY OF ReY. LuTHEE LeE. 

numbers to my antislavery views. In other places I 
met with, opposition and mob violence, and in such 
places I converted more to my antislavery views, for 
mobs appeared more powerful to convict and con- 
vince than logic. I visited Cedar ville, in Herkimer 
County. This is the place where it is said the scene 
is laid of " Ten N^ights in a Bar-room." The Meth- 
odist Episcopal preacher of this place refused to al- 
low me to occupy his pulpit for an antislavery lect- 
ure, and the Universalists offered me the use of 
their house. The result was, as usual in such cases, 
the Methodist house was nearly empty at the hour of 
my lecture. 

I lectured at a small place in the vicinity, known 
as " Smith's Pond." Here I had my first mob. The 
lecture was in a large stone school-house, the w^eather 
was very warm, and the house completely packed 
with attentive hearers, leaving no room for a mob. 
Their intention clearly was to have taken me out of 
the house. They were too late, the whisky was not 
strong enough, or they did not begin to drink soon 
enough. Before they got the steam high enough the 
house was crowded to its utmost capacity, and I was 
half through my lecture. Then the mob came with 
a rush. In the neighborhood was a blacksmith of 
colossal proportions, a man of great physical power. 
He was an opposer of abolition in an honest way, but 
had come to hear the lecture, and was standing in 
the door for want of room and a seat inside. He 



EXOAGED AS AN AnTISLAYEEY AgEKT. 171 

was leaning against the door-casing on one side wlien 
the mob came, and so intensely was Ms attention 
given to what I was saying that one or two of the 
miscreants passed him before he was aware of it. 
But they jostled him, and brought him to a realiza- 
tion of what was going on, and he turned his face to 
the crowd without, and stood in the door with his 
arm drawn back, saying, " Ton don't go in there, one 
d — scoundrel, unless you go over my dead body.'' 
They dared not attempt to go by him. The few 
which passed him rushed toward the stand, not know- 
ing at first that their friends were not coming behind 
them. Their attempted dash through the aisle start- 
led some ladies, who shrieked, and roused me to a 
sense of what was going on, and I looked the intrud- 
ers in the eye, and addressed them as follows : 
" Back, you cowardly miscreants ! Do you come to 
disturb me in the exercise of my right of free 
speech! I am the son of a revolutionary soldier, 
who fought through seven bloody years to win this 
right for me, and do you think I will resign at the 
clamor of a mob ? ISTo, never ! When I do it, let 
my right hand forget its cunning ; when I do it, let 
my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth ; when I 
do it, let the ashes of that venerable father awake 
from the dead to reprove a recreant son ! " This 
brought silence in the house ; all eyes were turned 
on me, and I was about to resume my lecture, when 
one of the mob on the outside attempted to come in 



172 AuTOEioGHAPiiY OF Key. Luthee Lee. 

at a window. Tlie very thick stone wall caused a 
very broad window-sill, upon which, he mounted, the 
window being raised high on account of the heat. 
As large a woman as I ever saw sat opposite the 
window, who, when her attention was arrested by his 
attempt to come in past her, rose as calm as one 
possibly conld appear, and seized hold of him' and 
sent him reeling from the sill outward, as though 
he had been but a kitten. This ended the struggle; 
the mob was defeated, and I resumed and finished 
my lecture. 

After I resumed my lecture I perceived that some 
one was burning matches around my feet, and sup- 
posed his object was to annoy me with the sulphur- 
ous smoke, and paid no attention to his operation. 
After the lecture was closed and the congregation 
had been dismissed it was found that he had de- 
posited a quantity of powder about my feet, and 
had been trying to ignite it with his matches, and 
had failed, and so I escaped unharmed and unf right- 
ened. 

A few evenings later I lectured in the Methodist 
Church at Crane's Corners, in the town of Litchfield, 
Herkimer County. Here I was again disturbed. 
The pulpit was in the front end of the house, and a 
vestibule in the rear. The weather was very warm, 
and the door on my left hand as I stood in the pul- 
pit was a little ajar, and the disturbers gathered in 
the vestibule, and one was heard to say, " Shoot him 



Engaged as an Antislavery Agent. 1Y3 

right in his eyes." In a moment the charge came, 
and I was saturated with whisky and lampblack from 
my head down to my chest on my left side. A part 
of the charge passed me and took effect on the gal- 
lery, leaving a black stain that could never be en- 
tirely removed. It was done by means of a large 
gun-barrel, converted into an enormous syringe. I 
simply remarked that I was not so much preju- 
diced against color as some persons were, and could 
talk with a black face, and would finish my lecture, 
which I did. It took me until midnight to clean 
myself off. 

The next attempt at mobbing me occurred at the 
village of Eemsen, north of Utica. I lectured there 
of an evening, and, there being rumors of trouble, 
an overgrown, very stout Welshman, as brave as he 
was large and stout, volunteered to go with me. He 
said, " Both friends and foes there know me ; friends 
will stand by me, and foes will not care to come in 
my way." I had a fair audience, and lectured with- 
out much disturbance, only a little grunting and 
groaning and contradicting, as though there was an 
element present ready to break out on the first and 
slightest occasion ; yet no stronger demonstration was 
made, and the lecture was finished, and the congrega- 
tion dismissed. Then the facts came to light : those 
groaners in the congregation were waiting for the ar- 
rival of their captain with re-enforcements, and he 
came not. A regular mob had been organized ; the 



174 Autobiography of Eey. Luther Lee. 

few there were only tlie advance skirmisliers ; the 
regular line got too dronk to come to time, the leader 
fell from his horse, and was found and helped home 
by my brave friend, who was to have defended me if 
need had required. The devil often overdoes his 
plans and defeats them. A quantity of whisky is 
necessary to get up a mob, but too much spoils it. 

There was a call for a lecturer in Chnton County, 
and I was detailed for the service. Clinton is the 
north-east county in the State, bounded on the north 
by Lower Canada, and on the east by Lake Champlain. 
I went through the county and lectured in every town, 
and almost every school district. I met with less op- 
j)osition in this county than in any other section of 
the country. A large majority of the Methodist 
preachers in the county were abolitionists ; those who 
were not I found free from that bitterness and spite 
met with almost every-where else. Having accom- 
plished my mission, I returned and reached my home. 
Meanwhile stern winter had gathered upon the coun- 
try and wrapped the land in his frosty arms. 

After a few days' rest I left home again for Albany, 
the capital of the State, and lectured for five weeks 
in the city and vicinity. I found many friends and 
many bitter opposers. All the Methodist preachers 
in the city, with one exception, were exceedingly bitter 
in their opposition to abolitionism. My principal 
Methodist rallying-point was what was then known as 
Garrettson Station. I also lectured in "Wesley ChapeL 



Engaged as an Antislayery Agent. 175 

and also in one Presbyterian Church. I'giYe the fol- 
lowing as a specimen of the oj)position with which 
I met : 

The brethren of Garrettson Station desired their 
pastor to read a notice of their monthly concert of 
prayer for the antislaYery cause, which he refused to 
do, assigning as a reason that he could not profane the 
Sabbath by reading such a notice. On Sabbath morn- 
ing there appeared printed notices finely displayed 
in conspicuous places in the church. He declared 
that the meeting thus advertised was a disorderly one 
and advised the people not to attend it, and said other 
sharp things. This thoroughly advertised the meet- 
ing, and the brethren thought it showed a forgetful- 
ness of his Saturday conscience. The result was more 
attended the meeting than ever before. 

While lecturing in the city I received a letter of 
six closely-written pages, and signed " Clericus," from 
which I give the following as specimens : 

I defy you to prove from the Bible, except by detached 
passages, that slavery is a sin under all circumstances ; or to 
advance a single precedent from the Bible for the course 
■which abolitionists pursue in regard to American slavery. 

I assert that the bondage of the sons of Ham is in pursuance 
of a decree of God ; that slavery has existed in all ages of the 
world, since the settlement of the progeny of Canaan in the 
land called by his name ; that slavery is a Bible institution ; 
that it has never been repealed by divine authority; that we 
have no right to inteifere with Bible institutions; that we 
have only the right to guard the institution of slavery in our 
country from abuse. 



176 AuTOBioaEAPHY OF Key, Luther Lee. 

I had no doubt wlio Clericus " was. He was a Meth- 
odist preacher then stationed in the city of Albany, 
in whose pulpit I lectured two evenings during my 
labors in the city. The trustees opened the house to 
me, much against his will, and he was much offended 
at their course, and hurled his spite at me ; and 
we had several unmistakable evidences of his clerical 
opposition. A gun was fired at the door of the 
church one evening while I was delivering a lecture. 
On another evening a stone was hurled through a 
window during my lecture, but fortunately no person 
was injured. 

I also received the following note, which, if it 
alarmed some of my friends, did not frighten me. I 
remembered the adage, "A barking dog never bites.'' 
But here is the threat : 

Albany, Jan. 14, 1839. 

Mr. Luther Lee, 

Sir : — I would advise you as a friend to leave the city as 
soon as possible, or you will lose your life. Such conduct as 
you are pursuing will not do; you must not try to blind peo- 
ple's eyes with false stories. You had not better deliver an- 
other lecture in the city ; if you do you will surely lose your 
life. It may not be in the church, but the remedy is sure. 

A Friend. 

Before my return home I visited West Troy, and 
lectured to full congregations. I found the Method- 
ist preacher in this place exceedingly opposed — so 
much so that he would not allow me to preach a gospel 
sermon in his pulpit. As I spent the Sabbath in the 



Engaged as an Antislavery Agent. 177 

place a number of liis leading Chnrcli members urged 
Lim to invite or allow me to preach, as tliey wished 
to hear me, and did not wish to be compelled to leave 
their own church to do it ; but he absolutely refused 
to admit me into his pulpit on account of my aboli- 
tionism. It was not because he feared I would intro- 
duce abolitionism in my sermon, for he knew I would 
not do that ; I never did it when I was invited to 
preach in a brother's pulpit. It was because he would 
not so far indorse the Christian character of an aboli- 
tionist as to invite him to preach in his pulpit. Being 
thus excluded from the Methodist pulpit, I accepted 
an invitation to preach in the Congregational church, 
and, of course, I had a large share of the Methodist 
congregation to hear me, and the probability is I made 
more abolitionists than I should if the preacher had 
raised no opposition, but simplj^ pursued a let-alone 
policy. 

I also about this time spent a week in the city of 
Schenectady, where I found a warm friend in the 
pastor of the Methodist Episcopal Church, Brother 
E. Goss. 

My series of lectures were delivered in the Baptist 

Church, the pastor of which, the Rev. Mr. Sawyer, 

was also a warm-hearted antislavery man. Probably, 

considering all the circumstances, I was never more 

successful in delivering a series of lectures in any 

place than in this, and many names were added to 

the antislavery roll. 
12 



178 AuTOBioGKAPHY OF Rev. Luthp:k Lee. 

Upon my return home I spent a few days of 
comparative rest, delivering a few lectures in the 
immediate vicinity of Utica, before striking out for 
another extended campaign. This stay about home, 
however, was short, and I was soon on the wing 
again, as will be seen in the opening of the next 
chapter. 



Bkothee Bkown's Teial. 



179 



CHAPTEK XIX. 

Brother Brown's Trial at Aiabu.rn— My Defense— A West- 
ern Tour. 

BEOTHEE BEOWl^, a member of the Church in 
Auburn, was put upon his trial for abolitionism. 
The trial commenced on the 15th of February, 1839. 
I was requested to act as his counsel, and contested 
the case to the best of my ability, for I believed him 
innocent of all moral wrong, and that the charges 
and trial were persecutions for his antislayery yiews 
and actions, which were less offensive than my own, 
inasmuch as he was less prominent. I have given, 
in a preceding chapter, a case of the trial of a min- 
ister, Eev. C. K. True, and will record this one in- 
stance as a specimen of the manner in which they 
tried and expelled laymen in those days. A Brother 
E. W. Goodwin had just been tried and expelled, to 
which allusion is made in this trial. 
The charges were as follows : 
I. Misrepresentation. Specification 1 : Saying that 
the meeting at the organization of the Wesleyan An- 
tislavery Society was numerously attended. Specifi- 
cation 2 : Saying that the doctrine has recently been 
set up that when ministers become members of an 
Annual Conference they surrender the keeping of their 
consciences to that body, and that members yield to 



180 Autobiography of Eev. Luther Lee. 

the Clmrcli or minister the keeping of that sacred 
trust. 

II. Slander. Specification 1 : Eepresenting that 
the Bishops of our Church would be glad to have a 
sword in their hands. Specification 2 : Eepresenting 
that the course of our Bishops and presiding elders 
is anti-MethodisticaL Specification 3 : Saying the 
pastor took away E. W". Goodv/in's class-book on ac- 
count of his abolitionism. Specification 4 : Saying 
that my course was unjust and oppressive^ unwar- 
ranted by established usage and precedentj and totally 
at variance with the true intent and meaning of our 
Church Discipline. Specification 5 : Bringing my 
character before a public meeting, and publishing it 
in " Zion's "Watchman." 

III. Falsehood, with a design to deceive. Specifi- 
cation: Saying that I took away E. W. Goodwin's 
class-book, and deprived him of his official standing 
on account of his abolitionism. 

Eev. W. M. Coryell, of Skaneateles, was president 
of the trial, by the appointment of the presiding 
elder. Eev. H. F. Eow, pastor of the church, was 
complainant and prosecutor, assisted by Eev. Mr. 
I^ash as counsel. I appeared for the accused. 

I will give the points I made in summing up, with 
the proof offered. 

It was moved by the prosecution that aU the 
members who attended and took part in the anti- 
slavery prayer-meeting, which was held weekly, 



Beother Brow:^'s Teial. 



181 



should be excluded from sitting on tlie trial, as in- 
competent. Of course I objected to this motion as 
very extraordinary, unwarrantable, and partial. My 
reasons were : 

1. To attend and take part in an antislavery prayer- 
meeting could not be a disqualification to try an issue 
of misrepresentation, slander, and falsehood. 

2. To attend an antislavery prayer-meeting could go 
no further than a general commitment to the principles 
of antislavery, which could not be a disqualification to 
try this case. The accused was not charged with be- 
ing an antislavery man, but with misrepresentation, 
slander, and falsehood. To assume that all antislavery 
men, all who pray for the slave, cannot be trusted to 
try an issue of misrepresentation, slander, and false- 
hood, would be an outrage not to be tolerated. 

3. To attend and take part in the antislavery 
prayer-meeting was no more a commitment in favor 
of the accused than staying away was a commitment 
against him. To be an antislavery man is not to be 
in favor of the accused, any more than to be opposed 
to antislavery is to be committed against the accused. 

I honestly believed the above to be conclusive, but 
the chair decided otherwise, and every person v/ho 
attended the antislavery prayer-meeting was stricken 
from the hst of triers. 

I then objected to the whole jury on the ground 
that they were the same persons who had tried the 
same charges in the preceding case against Brother 



182 AuTOBioasAPHY OF Rev. Lutiiek Lee. 

Goodwin. The charges were the same, the alleged 
acts were conjointly performed, and were sustained 
by the same testimony. It could not be pretended 
that there was any difference in the two cases. This 
also was overruled, and the brother was tried by those 
who had already decided his case against him. 

I next objected to the whole proceeding as a viola- 
tion of the General Eules, and read as follows : 

" These are the General Enles of our Societies ; if 
there be any among us who observe them not, who 
habitually breaks any of them, we will admonish him 
of the error of his ways. We will bear with him for 
a season. But if then he repent not, he hath no 
more place among us." 

I maintained that if the charges were all well 
founded, they constituted the first offense, and he 
had never been admonished or borne with. The 
chair overruled my objection. 

I finally objected to the trial on the ground that 
the brother had not been labored with, and read the 
rule, as follows: ^^In cases of neglect of duty of any 
kind, imprudent conduct, indulging sinful tempers 
and words, or disobedience to the order and discipline 
of the Church ; first, let private reproof be given by 
a preacher or a leader, and if there be an acknowl- 
edgment of the fault, and proper humiliation, the 
person may be borne with. On a second offense the 
preacher or leader may take one or two faithful per- 
sons. On a third offense let the case be brought 



Beotiies Brown's Trial. 



183 



before the Society." I insisted that the charges came 
tinder this rule ; that though one of them was rated 
higher, the specification brought it within the rule. 
I denied that any private labor had been bestowed on 
the brother, and challenged the proof, if there had 
been any private labor ; and no proof was offered, and 
yet the chair overruled my objection. 

The proof offered is all given in the following 
statement of my summing up of the case : 

First charge, " Misrepresentation." 

First specification: ^'Saying that the meeting at 
the organization of the Wesleyan Antislavery Society 
was numerously attended." 

The statement is admitted, and its truth is affirmed. 
"Numerously" is a relative term, and, at best, is a 
matter of opinion. It has been proved by a witness, 
who was not present, but who was sent to measure 
the room preparatory to testifying in this trial, that 
the room where the meeting was held was eighteen 
feet by thirty. It has been proved by a witness, who 
was present at the meeting, and was led to count, on 
account of there being so many more than usual, that 
there were fifty persons. It was then, I affirm, in its 
relations to such meetings generally, a numerously 
attended meeting. 

Second specification : " Saying that the doctrine has 
recently been set up, that when ministers become 
members of an Annual Conference they surrender 
the keeping of their consciences to that body," etc. 



184: AUT0BI0GF.APIIY OF EeY. LrTIIEE LeE. 

The statement was admitted, and I offered to prove 
it true, but was not allowed so to do. The chair 
simply said it would not admit of proof, and that no 
attempt to prove it could be allowed. Of course, I 
could only affirm in my summing up what I would 
have proved if allowed. I affirmed that the doctrine 
alleged was set up in the New York Conference, in 
the trial of the Rev. C. K. True, and the Eev. John 
Kennaday affirmed, during that trial, that when he 
joined that Conference, he committed the keeping of 
his conscience to the Conference. 

I urged, that if it was untrue, no person was mis- 
represented, for no person or body of persons was 
named as having set up the doctrine, and no time and 
place were named when and where it was done. 

I also urged that many other persons believed just 
what the brother had affirmed, insomuch that at most 
it is a matter of opinion, held by many others in com- 
mon with himself, for which he cannot be condemned 
for misrepresentation. 

Second charge, " Slander." 

First specification : " Representing that the Bishops 
of our Church would be glad to have a sword in their 
hands.'' 

This charge was denied, and all the proof adduced 
was that the defendant said that he was glad that 
the Bishops had not a sword. I contended in my 
argument that the evidence did not sustain the 
specification, and that the specification did not sus- 



Beothee Bkow^^'s Tkial 



185 



tain the charge of slander. It would not be slander 
if true. 

Second specification : "Representing that the course 
of our Bishops and presiding elders is anti-Method- 
istical." 

In my defense I argued, 

1. What Methodism is, and what constitutes anti- 
Methodism, are matters of opinion among Methodists 
themselves, and members, ministers, and administra- 
tors disagree. It cannot, therefore, be slander. 

2. No particular act or acts were named as being 
anti-Methodistical, and it was, therefore, no slander, 
unless it be slander to call in question the infallibility 
of the administration of our Bishops and presiding 
elders. 

3. ISTo one Bishop or presiding elder was referred 
to, so no one could be slandered. 

Third specification : " Saying that the pastor took 
away E. W. Goodwin's class-book on account of his 
abolitionism." 

Two competent and creditable witnesses testified 
that the plaintiff told them that he took away Good- 
win's class-book on account of his abolitionism. I 
also offered the affidavit of Goodwin himself, but the 
chair would not receive it. 

In summing up I argued that, as it was positively 
proved that the class-book was taken away on account 
of the abolitionism of the holder, it could be no slan- 
der to report it, unless the slander grew out of the 



186 AUTOBIOGKAPIIY OF ReV. LuTHEE LeE. 

fact that it was damaging to the plaintiff's character 
to have it known that he took away a class-book for 
such a cause ; and if this be allowed, if you convict 
the defendant, you will tenfold more condemn your 
minister by saying that he has done what it is a slan- 
der even to report. 

Fourth specification : " Saying that my course was 
unjust and oppressive, unwarranted by established 
usage and precedent, and totally at variance with the 
true intent and meaning of our Church Discipline." 

On this specification, I remarked that there was not 
the slightest doubt that the defendant honestly be- 
lieved that the preacher's conduct was all that he had 
affirmed it to be, and many others believed the same — 
that I did myself ; and to arraign a member on such a 
matter of opinion, where so many agreed with him, 
was adding to his acts of oppression. As to estab- 
lished usage and precedent, there could be none, for 
the occasion and course were new; it had been re- 
served for the opposers of abolitionism to perform 
such acts. 

Fifth specification: "Bringing my character be- 
fore a public meeting, and publishing it in ^Zion's 
atchman.' " 

I insisted that the defendant never brought the 
character of the plaintiff before a public meeting ; that 
the charge was based upon a resolution adopted by a 
meeting at which defendant presided, and he neither 
introduced it, discussed it, nor voted for it. The 



Brother Brown's Trial. 



187 



meeting voted tliat the proceedings be published, 
signed by the chairman and secretary, and he put his 
name to the document, and had only signed the paper 
in compliance with the vote of the meeting. I further 
urged, that the whole matter charged was not a slan- 
der. It is not necessarily a slander to bring a man's 
character before a public meeting, and to publish him 
in " Zion's Watchman." Slander or no slander, he was 
in a fair way to get published again, for such proceed- 
ings as the present need a public ventilation. 

Third charge, "Falsehood, with a design to de- 
ceive." 

Specification : " Saying that I took away E. Yv^. 
Goodwin's class-book, and deprived him of his official 
standing on account of his abolitionism." 

I remarked that the fact alleged in this count is 
the same that is charged as slander in the third speci- 
fication, under the charge of slander. It is saying 
that the class-book was taken from Goodwin for his 
abolitionism. The evidence and the arguments on 
that specification are equally applicable here, and 
need not be repeated. The additional charge of an 
intention to deceive is fallacious. There is not the 
slightest doubt that the defendant and many others 
believed the statement, and believing it, a design to 
deceive any one could not have constituted the motive 
for reporting it. Brother Brown had stood high as a 
Christian, and had always been true to the Church ; 
and, in closing my defense, I made an appeal, under 



188 Autobiography of Key. Luther Lee. 



which some of the triers wept aloud, but it did not 
saYO him ; there was enough of the non-weeping sort 
to do the work assigned them, and they couYicted 
him ; though my defense, or something else, made a 
decided improYement on this trial OYer that of Good- 
win, which had preceded it. 

The following was the Yerdict : 

First charge, " Misrepresentation." First specifica- 
tion, " Not guilty." Second specification, " Guilty." 

Second charge, " Slander." First specification, " 'Not 
guilty." Second specification, " Guilty of slander in 
the second degree, which acquits Brother Brown of 
all intentional wrong." Third specification, " Not 
guilty." Fourth specification, Guilty of slander in : 
the second degree, which acquits Brother Brown , 
of all intentional wrong." Fifth specification, " Not 
guilty." 

Third charge, Falsehood, with a design to de- 
ceiYC." Specification, "Saying that I took away i 
E. W". Goodwin's class-book, and depriYcd him of : 
his oflScial standing on account of his abolitionism." 
" Not guilty." 

From this rendering it is seen that the accused was i 
acquitted of all guilt except on one count out of eight, 
namely, guilty of misrepresentation in saying that the 
doctrine Jiad been set up that preachers committed ^ 
the keeping of their consciences to the Conference. I 
Upon this finding the chairman rose and pronounced ] 
the defendant expelled from the Church. : 



Beotiier Beown's Trial. 



189 



These things made an imiDression on niy mind. I 
saw clearly that there was really no security for the 
standing of abolitionists in the Chnrch. The two 
cases in which I had acted as counsel were not the 
only hke cases which were occurring in various places, 
and I began to ask myself , "What will the end of 
these things be ? " I began to reflect what could be 
done if a time should come when a different course 
of action from that which I was pursuing should be 
demanded. It looked as though abolitionists would 
ultimately be crushed out of the Church. Some would 
submit, but others would not, and I should be found 
with the non-submitting class, and what then ? I did 
not dare to attempt an answer. 

There was one circumstance which occurred during 
the trial that was a small satisfaction to me, and per- 
haps to some others. I was well known in Auburn ; 
I had preached in their pulpit during the session of 
Conference, and there was a strong desire to hear me. 
The trial was so protracted that it was clear I would 
remain over the Sabbath, and the brethren urged their 
pastor to consent to let me occupy the pulpit ; but he 
absolutely refused. The Kev. Mr. Hopkins, of the 
First Presbyterian Church, sent word to me that if 
I would preach for him on Sunday morning, I might 
occupy his pulpit in the evening for an antislavery 
lecture. I accepted, and the result was there were 
very few people at the Methodist church either morn- 
ing or evening. 



199 Autobiography of Eey. Luthek Lee. 

From Auburn I went westward on a lecturing 
tour. I lectured in tlie Congregational church in 
Canandaigua, one of the most aristocratic places in 
western New York. There were some symptoms of 
trouble, and some of the timid ones became alarmed. 
The house was f uU, though it was on a week-day after- 
noon. "When expectation of trouble was at its high- 
est, just as the last of the throng were crowding in, 
I rose and commenced reading a hymn from the 
Methodist Hynm Book : 

" Shall I, for fear of feeble man, 
The Spirit's course in me restrain ? " 

and I read it with such a pathos that I believe it 
awed opposers, and I know it scattered the fears of 
the timid. We had no disturbance. I went as far 
as Warsaw, Wyoming County. My principal object 
was to attend a county antislavery convention, which 
was to be held there. The anniversary of the County 
Bible Society occurred during the same week, and 
the Methodist quarterly meeting also was held on 
the following Saturday and Sunday. Altogether it 
made an interesting week. I was invited to make a 
speech in the Bible meeting, which I did. I stayed 
over the Sabbath, but could have no part in the 
quarterly meeting. The presiding elder, the Rev. 
Mr. Alverson, was one of the peculiar abolition hat- 
ers who would not have any thing to do with aboli- 
tionists. The brethren urged him to let me occupy 



A Western Tous. 



191 



the pulpit on Sunday evening, but he absolutely re- 
fused, saying that he should preach himself. This, 
every body knew, was to keep me out of the pulpit, 
for he was not in the habit of preaching but one ser- 
mon on Sunday. He consented that I might use the 
pulpit at two o'clock P. M. The brethren accepted 
on my behalf, not knowing the elder's offer was a 
plan to defeat me. At the morning service he sung 
long meter, prayed long meter, administered the 
sacrament long meter, and by the time he had got 
through with all these long meters it was two o'clock, 
and he supposed the people were tired and must go 
home, and that I could get no hearing. Such con- 
duct was not to go unpunished. A goodly number 
stayed, perhaps some of them out of spite. Others came 
in, and I had quite a respectable though small con- 
gregation. I preached as well as I could, and at the 
close of my sermon I told them I would preach in the 
Congregational church in the evening. The result 
was the presiding elder, Alverson, had only nine to 
hear him preach, and one of them was one of my 
friends who went there to count them. 

I then returned home, having lectured on my way 
out in a number of places not nam^ed, and I also de- 
hvered several lectures by the way on my return. 
Spring was now opening, and I spent several weeks 
in the vicinity of home, visiting and lecturing in 
places within ten and fifteen miles of Utica. 



192 AUTOEIOGKAPHY OF EeV. LuTIIER LeE. 



Horns Work— Egg Logic — A Tour East— A Tour North — 
Home again— Having Closed my Year's Labor, I Resign 
my Agency. 



FTEE my return from the western part of the 



Xl- State I spent a few weeks lecturing m the vicin- 
ity of home. Only one of these efforts is entitled 
to special notice. 

I sent forward an appointment to lecture in the 
town of Floyd on a week-day eyening. As it was 
entirely a rural neighborhood there was no thought 
of any disturbance. There was a wealthy farmer living 
near the church who was called Col. Pomeroy, said 
to be a leading Methodist. As I was an entire 
stranger, I called upon him and announced myself as 
the lecturer. He was far from being an abolitionist, 
3^et he was a gentleman, and received me kindly, and 
said his house should be m.y welcome home while I 
remained. He had known me by reputation through 
the press and otherwise, and was willing to hear me 
on the great question, though he differed from me. 

The church was a large, old-fashioned one, with a 
very high pulpit with a door on each side, and a large 
window at the preacher's back, as he stood in the pul- 
pit and faced the audience. This exposed the preach- 



CHAPTEK XX. 




Home Y^oek. 



193 



er to the view of those who might stand in front of 
the house in the evening when the pulpit was lighted. 
In the midst of my lecture there came a volley of 
eggs through the window on my back, hurled by a 
company of disturbers who had gathered in front of 
the house. They were sent with such violence through 
the glass as to sound like the discharge of pistols or 
guns. For the moment I did not understand what 
the racket was, but I soon learned. The pulpit was 
so high as to compel them to elevate their ordnance 
so high, in order to shoot through the window, that 
all passed over my head, and took effect about mid- 
way in the congregation, and some ladies and gentle- 
men received all the eggs which were intended for me. 
The eggs were not addled, as were the brains of those 
who sent them. It was too early in the spring for 
bad eggs. The moment the racket began, my host, 
Col. Pomeroy, sprang for the door, and being a very 
powerful man, and very much excited, I would not 
have gone security for the rascals had his way been 
clear ; but they had taken the precaution to tie both 
doors on the outside, and they made their escape be- 
fore he could get out. The congregation coming to 
order, I remarked that the miscreants, by fastening 
the doors, had saved their bacon, and had better have 
saved their eggs, and then jfinished my lecture. 

The spring having now opened, and the ground 
being settled, I started on another lecturing tour, and 

passed through Herkimer County into Schoharie 
13 



194 Autobiography of Key. Luther Lee. 

County, lecturing at all feasible places. In Schoharie, 
where I was born, I found but one person who knew 
any thing of me, and that was a friend who had 
moved from Delaware County, where I had been 
brought up, I left there when a child, and some of 
the facts of moving were among the first abiding 
records my memory had made. All foot-prints made, 
not only by my own little feet, but by the whole fam- 
ily, had been blotted out by thirty-nine years; yet 
there stood some of the old stone buildings which 
were there when the place, in its infancy, was assault- 
ed and sacked by Tories and Indians during the war 
of the Revolution. 

From Schoharie I shaped my course for Albany, 
lecturing by the way. I made a principal effort at 
Eensselaerville, where I spent a Sabbath and preached 
in the Methodist Episcopal church, and gave several 
lectures. While stopping here I found a home with 
Brother Raymond, the father of Rev. Dr. Miner Ray- 
mond. I .received the following anecdote from his 
ovv^n lips : Mr. Raymond was a farmer, whose farm 
was on the hill high above and a mile or two from the 
stream that ran through the valley below, whither he 
had to drive his sheep for washing every spring. In 
the early discussion of the temperance question Mr. 
Raymond was inclined to be a temperance man, but 
did not see how he could sign the pledge and keep it, 
as he really believed it impossible to go into cold 
water and wash sheep without whisky and not be 



Home Work. 



195 



sick. The time of sheep-washing came, and he se- 
cured his help, and got his large flock of sheep down 
into the valley^ and in the yard upon the bank of the 
stream, and preparatory to beginning a drink must be 
taken by all hands. He lifted his quart bottle full of 
the good creature to take the first drink, when it 
slipped from his hand and fell upon a stone and was 
broken, and every drop was lost. What could be 
done ? He could not well take his flock back upon 
the hill and bring them down another day, and no 
liquor could be obtained without sending miles for it. 
On a moment's reflection he resolved to run the risk 
of washing sheep without liquor, if he could persuade 
his help to take the hazard with him. He said to his 
men : " You see, boys, how it is ; I will add twenty- 
five cents apiece to your wages to make up for the 
spilt whisky, and let us wash the sheep and have done 
with it." All consented, and the work was accom- 
plished, and instead of being sick the next day, he had 
never before felt so well after sheep- washing, and he 
concluded the use of liquor injured men more in the 
water than it did out of it, and he signed the pledge 
and never again used or furnished liquor on any 
occasion. 

When I reached Albany I crossed the Hudson 
Eiver and lectured in Greenbush, and from thence 
went north into Washington County, and lectured in 
all the principal places in the county, and wound up 
with a county antislavery meeting at Union Yillage. 



196 Autobiography of Eev. Luther Lee. 

Here I met Gerrit Smith, who came to attend tlie 
convention. As there were some present who knew 
no better than to oppose abohtion and to defend 
slavery, there was some mnsic and a httle fun. 

After the convention I crossed the Hudson River 
and lectured several evenings in a Baptist church in 
the neighborhood of the Stillwater battle-field, of Rev- 
olutionary fame, and at some other places in the vi- 
cinity, after which I started for home, passing through 
Saratoga and Johnstown. 

Summer was now at its full strength, and after 
spending a short time at home, during which I deliv- 
ered several lectures in the villages and neighborhoods 
within reaching distance of Utica, I started on an- 
other tour to the north and north-east, in company 
with Mr. Chaplin, the general agent of the State so- 
ciety. We passed through Lewis, Jefferson, and St. 
Lawrence Counties, into Franklin County, and then 
returned through the same counties, mainly by an- 
other route. We usually divided the time, each 
speaking to the several congregations that came out 
to hear us. IsTothing occurred during this campaign 
worthy of special note, more than that we passed over 
the territory of several of my pastoral charges and 
tlieological battle-fields of other days. Some of my 
former friends did not know me, and others scowled, 
so great was the difierence between a Methodist 
preacher in his regular work, defending Methodism, 
and the same Methodist preacher when defending the 



Home "Woek. 



197 



rights of humanity, and pleading for the dumb and 
downtrodden. I am happy to say this remark does 
not apply to all. I met with many warm greetings, 
and enjoyed much pleasure in meeting with my old 
friends. 

When I again reached home autumn had come, 
with his sear leaf and chilling winds, and, having 
performed my year's labor for the Society, I re- 
signed my agency, much to the regret of the Execu- 
tive Committee, as they took occasion to express 
themselves. 



198 Atjtobiogkaphy of Eev. Luthek Lee. 



CHAPTEE XXI. 

A Brief Review— A Specimen of my Principles and. Mode of 
Presenting them. 

I HA YE now devoted a year to tlie antislavery 
canse^ and tliose who have read the record of the 
same will not pronounce it a year of idleness and 
ease, and I know it has not been a money-making 
labor. I know that my motive has been to save my 
country from the disgrace and guilt of slavery, and 
the Church from its pollution and rottenness. I 
started out with a love for the Church which impelled 
me to seek her purity by the removal of slavery from 
her communion. And yet my motives have been 
impugned, I have been slandered, shunned, and 
apparently hated by those who had been my best 
friends, and I have been assailed by mob violence. 
"Why has it been so ? I have not intended to give any 
imnecessary offense. In discussing so great an evil, 
I have undoubtedly used strong language, but no 
stronger than true. That the generation that shall 
come after me may judge between me and those from 
whom I have received such treatment, I will here 
record one of the most severe speeches I ever made. 
It was delivered in the Broadway Tabernacle, in 
Kew York, at the anniversary of the American 



A Bkief Review. 



199 



Antislavery Society, May, 1832, in response to the fol- 
lowing resolution, which I was requested to present : 

BesoUed^ That American slavery usurps the prerogatives of 
God, tends to blot the divine image from the soul of man, 
degrades him below the rank his Maker assigned him in the 
scale of creation, and subverts all the social relations which 
God and nature have made essential. 

Mr. President : Were I to attempt to give a brief 
but comprehensive view of the sinfulness of slavery 
I would do it in the words of St. Paul to Bar-jesus : 
"O full of all subtilty and all mischief, thou child 
of the devil, thou enemy of all righteousness, wilt 
thou not cease to pervert the right ways of the Lord ? " 
And then I would answer the question in an emphatic 
NO, that would make every heart feel that slavery is 
so bad that it is beyond being made better. I do not 
so undervalue the intelligence and moral sense and 
humanity of this assembly as to suppose that they are 
pro-slavery in judgment^ heart, and feeling; yet as 
there is a vast difference between believing that 
slavery is wrong and seeing and feeling how great a 
wrong it is, I trust it will give no offense to take it 
for granted that there are many in this vast assembly 
who have not fully considered the magnitude of this 
great sin. I wish to be understood as not making 
this effort so much to convince your judgments that 
slavery is wrong as to cause you to see and feel the 
greatness of the wrong, that its guilt rises as high as 
heaven and that its corruption is as deep as hell. 



200 Autobiography of Rsy. Luthee Lee. 

The resolution wliicli I have the honor of presenting 
charges slavery with four distinct crimes, v^hich I will 
attempt to sustain : 

I. Slavery is charged with usurping the preroga- 
tives of God. To sustain this I need only compare 
the claims of God with the claims of slave-holders. 
The claim of God is stated in these words : " Thou 
shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and 
with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all 
thy strength." The claim of the slave-holder is stated 
in the following words of the Civil Code of Louisiana : 
" A slave is one who is in the power of a master to 
whom he belongs. The master may sell him, dispose 
of his person, his industry and labor ; he can do noth- 
ing, and possess nothing, nor acquire any thing but 
what must belong to his master." The slave-holder 
clearly claims what God has reserved for himself, and 
usurps God's prerogatives. The slave-holder seizes 
upon the subjects of God's moral government and 
w^rests them from their allegiance to his throne, and 
takes them out of his administrative hand, and sub- 
jects them to the absolute will of a despot who is not 
satisfied with trampling upon the rights of man, but 
attempts to wrest the reins of government from the 
hand of Him whose throne is in the heavens. The 
claim of the slave-holder equals the claim of God ; it 
claims the whole man, and asserts an absolute right 
to body and soul, muscle and mind, all that the man 
is, all that he can do, all that he can possess, and all 



A Beief Eeyie^. 



201 



that lie can acquire. God can claim no more, and it 
is plain that the slave-holder's claim takes all and 
leaves nothing to satisfy God's claim. Suppose a 
slave obeys God so far as he can in his circnmstances, 
and believes in Christy and secures eternal hfe, will 
that belong to his owner ? He claims all his slave 
can do and acc[uire. Will he appear when crowns 
are distributed and claim it ? Or suppose the slave is 
as wicked as his master and dies an heir of hell, will 
the master be entitled to his slave's wages of sin ? 
" He can do nothing, and possess nothing, nor acQuire 
any thing but what must belong to his master." 

It is seen that slavery robs men of the power and 
means of obeying God. Can a slave who is in the 
power of a master, and who can do nothing but what 
must belong to his master, obey God on his own 
account? It is impossible. Can a slave who ''can 
possess nothing, nor acquire any thing but what must 
belong to his master," visit the sick, feed the hungry, 
and clothe the naked ? Tou all know he cannot, and 
hence you know that slavery disqualifies a man to be 
a subject of God's moral government ; it denies the 
means of obeying the most simple precepts of the 
Gospel; it therefore contravenes the claims of God, 
and sets at naught the great law of our being which 
holds all intelligent beings in allegiance to their Cre- 
ator. If this is not treason against the government 
of God treason cannot exist. If it is not tresjoass 
upon the prerogatives of God it cannot be proved 



202 AUTOBIOGEAPHY OF EeY. LuTHER LeE. 

tliat the devil has committed trespass in the case of 
all the souls he has seduced from their allegiance to 
the divine throne ; for he never claimed more than 
slavery claims, and never received more from the 
most zealous fiend that ever served his cause, disem- 
bodied or incarnate — no, not in hell, where he rules 
perverted immortality under the cloud of darkness 
that mantles the damned. How damning, then, must 
be the guilt of slavery ! It is the sum of all sin, a 
monopoly of crime. For a man to attempt to throw 
off his own allegiance to his Maker is a crime fearful 
to contemplate ; but how much more fearful is the 
crime of slavery, which lays hold of millions, and steps 
in between them and the government of God ! The 
common sin of refusing to obey God is swallowed up 
and lost sight of in the slave-holder's greater crime, 
who not only refuses to obey, but refuses to allow 
others to obey, seizing upon the subjects of God's 
government and appropriating them to his own use, 
body and mind, intellect, will, and conscience, without 
leaving one reserved power or right to the claim of 
God. It is, then, clear that slavery usurps the prerog- 
atives of God, and so far as it succeeds in enforcing 
its principles the government of God is blotted from 
the world. 

II. The resolution charges slavery with a tendency 
to blot the divine image from the soul of man. 
Without discussing metaphysically the question as to 
v/hat constitutes the image of God in man, I will say 



A Brief Eeview. 



203 



that it includes all mental and moral endowments 
wliicli distingnish men from brutes and ally them to 
and make them like God. 

1. While brutes were created with inferior spirits 
that go downward, man claims affinity with the world 
above, God having added to his earthly nature a liv- 
ing soul, which was infused of his own immortal 
breath. It is admitted that slavery can never render 
man less than immortal by blotting out this likeness 
of God's immortality, yet it overlooks it and treats 
him as though he was not immortal, and as having no 
higher destiny than brutes' that perish, no future 
more than the horse or the ox. This image of God, 
this living soul which God kindled in man with tlie 
quenchless fires of his own immortality, is made a 
personal chattel to be bought and sold in the market, 
to be used for the exclusive benefit of the purchaser, 
as an instrument to gratify his love of gold, power, 
or lust, as his propensities may dictate. Slavery de- 
grades this immortal man to a level with the ox and 
mule, to toil with them under the sting of the 
driver's lash from life's cloudy dawn to its dark going 
down, as though the negro has no heaven to hope for 
beyond his dream, too soon disturbed by the sound 
of the driver's horn summoning him to a renewal 
of his unrequited toil; and no hell to fear beyond 
the tortures of the cotton-field, the sugar plantation, 
or the rice swamp. 

2. While God created brutes with an instinctive 



204 AuTOBioGi^AriiY OF Rev. Luther Lee. 

nature to guide them, lie endowed man with the 
higher faculty of reason, and thus modeled him after 
his own image, he alone possessing reason absolutely 
perfect and eternal. This noble power of reason 
K^lavery blots out, or suppresses only so much as can 
make them useful as beasts of burden or instruments 
of menial toil. Slave-holders know that human be- 
ings cannot be held in slavery without also being held 
in ignorance ; hence laws are enacted which make it a 
penal offense to teach a slave to read, and every pos- 
sible effort is made to keep them in darkest igno- 
rance. They must live and die in ignorance of God's 
holy word. They may not be taught to read the 
revelation which God has given for a light to the life 
of all men. It is made a crime to give a Bible to a 
slave. Let your Bible Society send out its agent to 
distribute the word of God, and let him attempt to 
approach the slave quarters with a Bible in his hand, 
and slavery will lift up its snaky head and lap out its 
forked tongue and tell him he must not go there. 
Thus slavery does all it can to blot the image of God 
from the souls of men. Spirits which God created 
capable of endless improvement, and destined to fill 
and illume a celestial sphere, slavery consigns to a 
night of ignorance as enduring as life and as rayless 
as the brow of despair. 

III. The resolution charges slavery with degrading 
man from the dignified rank assigned him in the 
scale of creation. God placed man over the work of 



A Brief Review. 



205 



liis hands, saying, " Let them have dominion over the 
fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over 
the cattle, and over all the earth." This glory and 
honor with which God crowned his creature man, 
slavery plucks from his brow ; it robs him of the au- 
thority with which the Creator invested him, and 
with its profane and heaven-daring hand hurls him 
down from the sphere assigned him by the Al- 
mighty, and gives him a place among the brutes that 
perish. 

All the rights and authority which God gave to 
the first man belong equally to all men, because they 
were bestowed upon the common father of all the 
race. God "hath made of one blood all nations of 
men for to dwell on all the face of the earth," and it 
was when the blood of all men — white, red, and black 
• — flowed undistinguished in the veins of a common 
father, and rushed through its arterial course at the 
pulsations of the one individual heart, that God 
crowned man with the right to possess and rule the 
world ; and hence the right of possession and control 
belongs to all men, without distinction of color or 
nationality. This right is wrested from the slave, 
for the law of slavery will not allow him to possess 
or rule any thing, not even himself, not even his own 
hands and feet. God says to the colored man no less 
than to the white man, " Have dominion over the 
fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over 
the cattle, and over all the earth but slavery says, 



206 Autobiography of Key. Luther Lee. 

" 'Not so, Lord ; the slave can do nothing, and possess 
nothing, nor acquire any thing but what mnst belong 
to his master." IsTow, which tells the truth, God or 
the slave code ? 

lY. The resolution charges slavery with subvert- 
ing the social relations of man, which, in the consti- 
tution of nature, God has rendered essential to his 
existence. Man is a social being ; the Creator formed 
him for social life by giving him a nature which 
claims and receives social enjoyments from kindred 
spirits. God having created man to live in social re- 
lations, has given us rules for the government of 
these relations ; and the charge is that slavery annuls 
these rules and subverts these relations, and pours a 
full cup of wormwood and gall into the very fount- 
ains of human society. 

1. Slavery strikes down the divine law of mar- 
riage, annuls the relation of husband and wife, and 
renders the entire intercourse among slaves an un- 
mitigated system of fornication, adultery, or con- 
cubinage. Marriage, as instituted by God, is the 
fountain of social life, which sends out its living 
streams of social animation to bless and make joyful 
what would otherwise be a desert and cheerless world. 
This institution is the first and oldest known to hu- 
manity ; its plan was laid when God said, " It is not 
good that man should be alone it was carried into 
practical actuality when God, having formed a woman, 
presented her to the man, fair and innocent, amid the 



A Beief Review. 



207 



floral charms of Eden's iindefiled bowers, before de- 
pravity had corrupted the fountain of the heart, or 
one blush of guilt and shame had flushed the face of 
humanity. It is upon this flrst union of one man 
with one woman that Christ says, "For this cause 
shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave 
to his wife : and they twain shall be one flesh. . . . 
What therefore God hath joined together, let not 
man put asunder." In violation of this, slavery lays 
its sacrilegious hand upon the bridal pair and rends 
them asunder as though God had not joined them 
together. But it may admit of a question whether 
they are joined together or not. 'No matter ; if they 
are joined together by God, then slavery actually 
severs bonds that are divine. If they are not joined 
together by God they are not married in a scriptural 
sense, and slavery stands convicted of breaking up 
the marriage institution altogether, and the three 
millions of slaves present one field of corruption, pol- 
lution, and rottenness. The advocates of slavery may 
take which horn of the dilemma they please. If they 
are married, slavery puts asunder those whom God 
hath joined together ; if slaves are not married, slav- 
ery is guilty of subverting entirely a divinely ap- 
pointed institution. 

What a mockery is any pretended marriage of 
slaves ! Let the slave give the only true answer the 
case ^vill admit of, and the ceremony will be some- 
thing as follows : 



208 Autobiography of Eev. Luthee. Lee. 

Question, " Wilt thou liave this woman to be thy 
wedded wife ? " 

Answer. " Master says I may, or must, as the case 
may be." 

Quest. " Wilt thou love her and keep her ? " 

Ans. "Master keeps her for me; I cannot keep 
myself ; master keeps us both," 

Quest. " Wilt thou keep thee only unto her so long 
as ye both shall live ? " 

Ans. "I will if master does not separate us by 
selling us apart." 

Quest. "Wilt thou have this man to be thy 
w^edded husband ? Wilt thou keep thee only unto 
him so long as ye both shall live ? " 

Ans. " I will if master, some of his boys, his over- 
seer, or some other white man does not step in be- 
tween us and force me to break my promise, as I 
have no right to resist or lift my hand against any 
white man." 

2. Slavery annuls the obligations growing out of 
the relation of parents and children. The command 
of God is, " Children, obey your parents in the 
Lord ;" but slavery says, " 'Not so, Lord ; they must 
obey their masters, who own them, who may separate 
them at pleasure by selling the parents upon the 
auction-block, and children by the pound." The son 
may not obey his father, out of whose loins he came ; 
he may not obey him in childhood ; may not support 
him in manhood ; may not wipe a tear from his pa- 



A Bkief Review, 



209 



rent's sorrowful eye, or reach out his hand to steady 
his tottering gait as he totters down hfe's declivity, 
hastened by the sting of the slave-driver's lash. The 
daughter may not obey her mother, who in anguish 
gave her being ; may not pour one drop of consola- 
tion into the grief-charged bosom, from which she 
drew her first nutriment, and at which she was nur- 
tured in helpless infancy, and reared to endure the 
woes of womanhood's years. 

God commands parents to train up their children 
" in the nurture and admonition of the Lord," but 
slavery says, " l^ot so. Lord ; they must train up their 
children, or leave them to grow up for me, that I 
may sacrifice their sons upon the altar of my avarice, 
and their daughters upon the altar of my lust." 

I believe I have fully sustained the resolution, yet 
I do not pretend that I have fully revealed all the 
horrors of slavery in its bloody work and damning 
guilt. I have only discovered to you the tips of the 
serpent's forked tongue ; the body of the viper, in 
awful magnitude and hideous form, hes concealed, 
and is known only in the ever-present miseries, the 
unfathomable anguish and untellable horrors of the 
cotton-field, the sugar plantation, and the rice swamp, 
from which I will not attempt to lift the veil. Let 
no one suppose I have exaggerated the sin of slav- 
ery ; exaggeration is impossible ; the simple truth 
transcends the power of fiction, and every attempt 

at declamation must lessen and lighten the cloud of 
14 



210 Autobiography of Rev. Luther Lee. 

dark terrors that ever hang over and shroud the 
slave system. To describe slavery would require 
a language which would combine words expressive 
of the shrieking terrors of death, the gloom of ray- 
less despair, and the glowing fires of hell. Could I 
call up the winds of the South and cause them to 
pour into the ears of this assembly the sighs and 
shrieks and groans of tortured fathers and tortured 
mothers and tortured sons and tortured daughters, I 
should need no other argument, for these outbursts 
of suffering and terror concentrating in your ears 
would sound as loud and wild as the cry of assem- 
bled ghosts. But I will forbear, or in my conception 
of the great evil of slavery I shall substitute execra- 
tion for argument. As Michael, when contending 
with the devil, brought not a raihng accusation 
against him, but said, " The Lord rebuke thee," so I 
say, May the Lord rebuke slavery, and rebuke it as 
Christ rebuked intruding devils, which sent them 
back in scampering haste to their own hell ; and may 
it not, like the ejected legion, be permitted to enter 
into the swine, but be driven, naked and unattended, 
down the guK of everlasting chaos and oblivion, 
never more to lift its serpentine head this side of the 
bourn which divides this from the world of the un- 
blessed. Let it be blotted from the polluted records 
of the Church ; let it be blotted from the disgraced 
annals of the State and l^ation; and if it must have 
an enduring page assigned it upon which to record 



A Bkief Review. 



211 



its existence and doings, let it be in tlie biography of 
some chief among damned spirits, or in the history 
of Beelzebub, the prince of the devils. 

The above has been given as a specimen of my 
mode of attacking slavery, and I may affirm, with all 
truth and sincerity, that in no lecture was I more 
severe or provoking than in the above address. It 
was not, however, my severity or mode of treating 
the subject which caused me to be mobbed, for those 
who mobbed me never heard me. 



212 AUTOBIOGEAPHY OF EeV. LuTHEE LeE. 



CHAPTEE XXII. 

Invited to Massachusetts— Made a Lecturing Tour through. 
Connecticut— Middletown—Reaehed Boston very Sick. 

1WAS invited by the Massacliusetts Society to be- 
come their General Agent, and answered favor- 
ably and told them I would visit Boston in a few 
weeks and close a contract if we could agree. I had 
also been urged to visit Connecticut, and concluded to 
make a lecturing tour through that State on my way 
to Boston. I started in September, 1839, and lect- 
ured in Meriden and various other places until I 
reached Middletown, the seat of the Wesleyan Uni- 
versity, where I had been strongly urged to come. 
There was a strong antislavery feeling in the city, 
and there were several young men among the stu- 
dents that were very decided in their antislavery 
views. Among these was the young man who has 
grown to be Eev. Dr. R. S. Eust, the present General 
Agent of the Freedmen's Aid Society. It was pro- 
posed that I should deliver a series of lectures in the 
Congregational church, as the Methodist church was 
not open for antislavery lectures. There was no bell 
in the Congregational church, and the Methodist bell, 
by w^ay of courtesy, was usually rung for meetings in 
the Congregational church. The bell was rung for 



A Lecturing Toue through Coknecticut. 213 

my first lecture, as it had been for other meetings. This 
so roused the sj)irit of the pastor, the Eev. Francis 
Hodgson, that he rushed into the church and stopped 
the ringing, and forbade the sexton to ring the bell any- 
more for my lectures. This so exasperated the friends 
of free discussion that a subscription was circulated, 
and a sufficient amount was secured to purchase a 
bell for the Congregational church. In my lectures 
I defended myseK against the charge of being a dis- 
turber and a slanderer of the Church by attacking 
and exposing the pro-slavery position of the Church. 
This so excited the Eev. Mr. Hodgson that he sent 
me a challenge to meet him in a public debate. 

This just suited me, for I knew I had the right 
side of the subject, and that I understood it, and 
could make capital for the cause out of a public de- 
bate. I accepted, and the news spread, and when the 
evening came for the debate to open the house was 
crowded. I went in and took my seat, but Mr. Hodg- 
son did not appear. After waiting a few moments one 
of the professors from the university rose and stated 
that he appeared in the place of Mr. Hodgson, author- 
ized to withdraw his challenge. He stated, further, 
that it was not Mr. Hodgson's wish to decline the de- 
bate ; that they had with difficulty persuaded him to 
consent to have it withdrawn. Mr. Hodgson was very 
ardent and anxious for the debate, but they were 
aware that he would meet Mr. Lee at great disadvan- 
tage, as he had made the subject a specialty for a long 



214 Autobiography of Eey. Luther Lee. 

time and understood it in all its bearings, whereas Mr. 
Hodgson had paid bnt little attention to it, and conld 
not meet Mr. Lee on eqnal ground. I rose and bowed 
as gracefully as I knew how to the professor, and 
stated that I accepted of his apology for Mr. Hodgson ; 
that he had a right to challenge me ; had a right to 
withdraw his challenge ; and, as I had spent no time 
and labor in making special preparation for the de- 
bate, I had no reason to complain. But, as the chal- 
lenge was now withdrawn, I was at liberty to resume 
my lectures, and would avail myself of the occasion 
to deliver the next in the series. "Without any fur- 
ther allusion to the challenge, I proceeded with my 
lecture as though nothing unusual had occurred. 

Having closed my lectures in Middletown, I started 
for Boston. I became very sick on the way, with 
unquestionable symptoms of a settled fever. I had 
felt unwell for a day or two ; now I perfectly under- 
stood my case. I had a fever. I had the names of 
a few friends in Boston, but there was no person in 
the city I had ever seen. I reached Boston late in 
the night and went to a hotel, and waited until morn- 
ing, when, being too sick to leave my room, I dis- ^j 
patched messages to some of my friends, for though j 
I had no acquaintances, there were friends, if I could | 
get word to them. The first man who responded to j 
my messages was the Kev. Dexter King. He noti- j 
fied others, who came to see me, and on consultation ' 
I was removed from the hotel to the infirmary of 



Eeaciied Bostox yesy Sick. 215 

ex-ReY. Elias Smith, the father of the noted Matthew 
Hale Smith. Here I was treated for seYeral days, but, 
becoming dissatisfied with the mode of treatment, 
Mr. Bracket, of Charlestown, came with his carriage 
and remoYcd me to his own house. I had become 
so feeble it was with difficulty I could be moYed ; 
but the thing was accomplished, a physician was 
called, and I had the best of care. The fcYcr was 
still running its course, but after a few days it began 
to abate, and grew less and less until it left me en- 
tirely. My physician said my remarkable constitution 
was too much for the foYcr, and wore it out and con- 
quered it without alloAYing it to come to a crisis. I 
felt that there had been a scYcre battle, and that I 
had been rather roughly handled. I recoYcred Yery 
rapidly after the foYcr left, or, as the physician said, 
was worn out. "While yet quite feeble I started for 
home and arriYcd safely, and was soon as Yigorous 
as eYer, and ready to rencY^ the battle. I was soon 
on my way to Boston with my family, and settled 
them in Charlestown, near Boston, and Y^as ready to 
take the field. It was now late in ISToYember, 1839, 
and I went to work with a will. 



216 Atjtobiogkaphy of Eet. Luther Lee. 



CHAPTEH XXITI. 

My New Field of Labor— Difficulties in the way of Rapid 
Progress— A Triangular Fight. 

THEEE were now two antislavery societies in Mas- 
sachnsetts. A portion of the antislavery men 
were now turning their attention to political action 
against slavery, which was vehemently opposed by 
another portion, and among them some of the strong- 
est and most popular. William Lloyd Grarrison and 
Wendell Phillips and others condemned all political 
action, and declared it a sin to vote under the pro- 
slavery Constitution of the United States. This, 
and some other causes, produced a division, and a new 
society was organized in Massachusetts, composed 
mainly of those who believed in political action against 
slavery ; and it was this new society that I had en- 
gaged to serve, and it placed me in the front rank of 
the battle. 

Eelatively to politics there were three parties in 
the field : the old society, led by Mr. Garrison and 
others ; the new society, which I served as General 
Agent ; and the two political parties, Whigs and Dem- 
ocrats, who opposed the political antislavery party as 
bitterly as they did each other. We were approach- 
ing the presidential campaign of 1840, of which 



My JN'ew Field of Labor. 



217 



something more will be said hereafter. Placed be- 
tween the two great political parties on one side, and 
the non-voting, non-resistant antislavery party on the 
other, we had warm work. 

But there was another element that entered into 
the triangular and confused battle; a large portion of 
the old antislavery society had also become antichurch. 
Many of their most prominent speakers and writers 
not only opposed the pro-slavery position of the 
Churches, but denounced all Church organizations as 
wrong, wicked, and the greatest enemies of God and 
humanity. My own position on all these questions 
stood out well-defined. In New York I had strongly 
committed myself to political action against slavery. 
In the convention held in Albany, in May, 1839, I 
made an argument for pohtical action which some 
said turned the scale in favor of a political anti- 
slavery party, and with this prestige I came to Mas- 
sachusetts. I was never Utopian enough to give any 
quarter to non-resistance, or to suppose that human- 
ity can exist in social relations without civil govern- 
ment ; or that we can secure a right government 
without right voting. On the Church question my 
views were fully known. I believed in the necessity 
and Christian duty of maintaining Church organiza- 
tions, and Church relations, fellowship, and commun- 
ion. While I denounced the pro-slavery position 
and action of some of the Churches, I never failed 
to throw my whole strength and influence in favor of 



218 AUTOBIOGEAPHY OF EeY. LuTHER LeE. 

Chnrcli organizations, and defended them on all 
proper occasions. 

These nncqnivocal positions, while they gave self- 
reliance and helped my courage, and rendered what 
friends I had decisive, made me a target for the 
shafts of pro-slavery politicians, and all non-political, 
non-voting, non-resistance, non- Church antislavery 
men. Thus I went into the battle in Massachusetts 
in the autumn of 1839. 

The first contest was for the control of the local 
societies. When there came to be two State soci- 
eties, the county, city, and town societies had to 
decide with which they would act ; and, as they were 
often found divided, severe contests arose out of the 
question, and each State society did what it could 
to assist its friends in these local contests. This 
strife was in progress when I entered upon my 
agency. As this, and some other questions which 
often intruded, did not belong to the great issue be- 
tween slavery and liberty, I will say what seems 
necessary at this point, and dismiss them before I 
attempt to present an outline of my year's labor. 

The first contest in which I took a part was at the 
annual meeting of the Barnstable County Society, 
at which time it was understood they Avould decide 
with which State society they would act. Both 
parties rallied. The old society was represented by 
Mr. Collins, the General Agent. I appeared for the 
new society, assisted by the Eev. C. T. Torrey, a 



A Triangulah Fight. 



219 



Congregational minister. Mr. Torrey being an able 
debater, and well known, and I being an entire strang- 
er, I induced him to open tbe debate, and drew tlieir 
fire. That this was the best policy was evidenced 
in the summing up of the m.atter. I made no set 
speech, but only threw an occasional bomb to stir up 
their batteries, until their arguments appeared ex- 
hausted, when I took the floor and made the best 
argument I was capable of making. Mr. Collins saw 
that if the vote was taken his cause would be lost, 
and he sprang upon the floor and made an effort to 
get the question put over for another meeting of the 
society, insisting that the question had been much 
complicated, and that they had not paid sufficient 
attention to the subject, were not prepared for a final 
vote, and that by putting the question over they could 
inform themselves and reach a more deliberate and 
satisfactory conclusion. Barnstable County is down 
on Cape Cod, and while there may be no locality in 
Massachusetts where the sun does not shine, it is as 
much obscured by the mists of the cape as in any 
part of the State. I replied in a few words by inquir- 
ing if Mr. Collins designed to insult that intelligent 
congregation by telling them that they did not un- 
derstand the subject, did not know what they want- 
ed, that they had come together to do a work they 
did not understand, and must go home and study and 
learn what they wanted to do, and come again, I 
trusted they would show at once by their votes that 



220 Autobiography of Rev. Lutiiee Lee. 

tliej understood what they wanted better than he 
eould tell them. The vote was taken, and, of course, 
I won by a large majority. 

These contests over local organizations did not 
leave the ladies undisturbed. The Ladies' Antislav- 
ery Society of Boston maintained a severe struggle 
for a long time, each party rallying in all their 
strength at each meeting, until a decisive vote was 
finally obtained. In this fight I had no personal 
part, yet my better half was drawn into it, and did 
her part, at least in voting, when the battle ended in 
the triumph of the new society party, showing that 
a majority of the ladies w^ere in favor of civil gov- 
ernment, of voting, of resistance, when it is neces- 
sary, and of Church organization. The non-resistant, 
no-Church, and come-out elements often gathered in 
conventions of their own in those days. These were 
absolutely open to free discussion, and all who were 
disposed to do so had a perfect right to go in and 
take part in the discussions. Myself and two partic- 
ular friends, a Baptist and a Congregationalist min- 
ister, often constituted a trio in those conventions, 
on account of the opportunity it gave us to expose 
non-resistance, and to defend the Church, the minis- 
try, the Sabbath, and even Christianity itself. In 
one of them I tried my steel on the sword of The- 
odore Parker, in defense of the inspiration of the 
Scriptures. In another one of my friends defended 
the Cliristian ministry from an assault, by showing 



A TpvIa^^gulak Fight. 



221 



tliat there were ten outspoken antislavery ministers 
to one layman, in proportion to the whole number of 
both classes. It silenced the whole convention for 
that time. 

In another of those conventions we, the trio, drew 
our swords, each in turn, and flashed them in the 
face of the convention, in defense of the Christian 
Sabbath. Those efforts were not lost. 

Often the wildest views would come to the surface, 
and would provoke a reply that furnished amusement 
for those who could enjoy a sharp retort. I indulged 
in this myself on one occasion. The first battle was 
over the organization of the convention. A strong 
party was opposed to all organization, and resisted 
the election of a chairman. During this contest my 
friends and I took advantage of the state of things to 
make the attempt to do business without organization 
appear ridiculous. Finally the convention was organ- 
ized by the election of Josiah Quincy as chairman, as 
fine a gentleman as ever graced Boston society. 

Soon a Mr. Alcott rose and spoke as follows: "Mr. 
Chairman, I can tell this convention wherein you are 
all wrong, blind, and carnal. I am as pure and 
as wise as was Jesus Christ. The reason is, I eat 
nothing but pure vegetables. You eat cattle's flesh 
and sheep's flesh and fowl's flesh and swine's flesh. 
You are just what you eat : you are cattle and sheep 
and fowl and swine; you are ignorant and blind 
and carnal." 



222 AuTOBioGRAPPiY OF Key. Luther Lee. 

When the speaker had concluded I addressed the 
chair as follows : 

"Mr. Chairman, with your permission I wish to 
ask the gentleman who has just taken his seat a 
question." 

There were murmuring sounds in all parts of the 
house, and rap, rap, sounded the chairman's gavel, 
until silence was restored, when the chairman said : 
" Mr. Lee wishes to ask the last speaker a question. 
Proceed, Mr. Lee." 

I proceeded by saying : " The speaker told us that 
w^e are just what we eat; that because we eat cattle's 
flesh and fowl's flesh and sheep's flesh and swine's 
flesh Yie are cattle and fowl and sheep and swine. 
He also told us that he eats nothing but vegetables. 
ISTow the question is, Does it not follow, by parity 
of reason, that he is a potato, a turnip, a pumpkin, or 
a squash ? " 

The result can be imagined. Amid the racket was 
heard, in every part of the house, " Too much of the 
squash ! " 

Such episodes may have been of some use by 
relieving the mind for a moment from thoughts of 
sterner work and higher responsibilities ; but the 
work had to be performed, and the responsibilities 
had to be met, as the next chapter will show. 



An Earnest Yeais's 'Woek. 



223 



CHAPTER XXIY. 

An Earnest Year's Work— Opposition on every Hand— 
Diseou-raging Prospect. 

IT has been seen that I commenced my labors in 
Massacliiisetts in ITovember, 1839. I lectured at 
large through the State, and visited those places 
where labor was most needed. I made one tour 
down the cape during the winter, and found it very 
cold, yet winter is the best time to operate there. 
Most of the men follow the v/ater, and are largely 
coasters and fishermen, and are from home during the 
summer, but all are at home during the winter. In 
this tour I was favored much with the company of 
the Eev. Frederick Upham, presiding elder. He was 
not only good company, but a good antislavery man, 
and I could get a hearing at some hour during his 
quarterly meetings. In one neighborhood I lectured 
in a Baptist church, and put up with the minister, 
who gave me the following item of his experience with 
the " Come-outers." It was on an exceeding cold 
winter's night, and he was sick and was taking a 
sweat under the administration of his daughter. He 
was seated in a chair covered with thick blankets, 
with a steaming arrangement under him, when a 
powerful rap was heard at the door. His daughter 



224 AuTOBioGEAPiiY OF Kev. Lutiiek Lee. 

went to tlie door and found a person there who 
wished to see the elder. She told hmi he must come 
in, as the elder could not come to the door. N'o, he 
could not come in, but must see the elder at the door. 
She returned and told her father what the man said. 
She did not know him. He sent her back to tell the 
man he could not come to the door to see him, that 
lie was taking a sweat, and if he wished to see him he 
must come in. He persisted that he could not come 
in, but that it was all-important that he should see 
him ; that he had a message for him which he could 
deliver only in person, and at the door. The elder, 
thinking something very strange and important must 
be on hand, rose, blankets and all, and made his way 
to the door, and as he stuck his head out into the cold 
night air he recognized his neighbor, who said, "I 
have a message from God, which is, that you must 
repent or you will be damned," and he turned and 
away he went. 

The elder felt as though he would like to shake 
him a little, but he was gone, and he felt that he 
was in too weak a condition to shake any one very 
severely, and so he returned quietly to his chair and 
finished his sweat. 

I made one lecturing tour through the western part 
of the State. I gave a series of lectures in Westfield. 
At that time there was a large whip factory in this place 
in which whips were made by the thousand for the 
Southern market, for the express purpose of whip- 



An Eaenest Yeak's Work. 225 

ping slaves. Of course there was mucli opposition 
to abolitionism. I lectured in the Methodist church, 
and on going into the pulpit to deliver my second 
lecture I found one of the largest sized slave whips 
there. It was put there to remind me that I might 
get a touch of it if I continued my lectures. Isot 
having the fear of slave whips before my eyes, I pro- 
ceeded with my lecture, saying nothing about the 
whip. I spoke of the practice of tying slaves up 
and whipping them until they were bloody. At the 
right time I lifted the whip and cracked it nearly 
as loud as the report of a pistol, which made the 
people start, and I shouted at the same time, " That 
is the way they give it to them, and this is the in- 
strument with which they do it, made here in West- 
field. Will you ask again what we have to do with 
slavery here at the IN'orth ? " I finished my course of 
lectures without getting whipped. 

I made a summer tour down the cape, below where 
I went in my winter campaign, and spent some days 
at Provincetown, which is on the extreme point 
of the cape upon which old Ocean rolls his mad 
waves when the tempest is high. I found a very 
primitive yet noble-hearted people, antislavery almost 
to a man — and, I might add, woman. I made a tour 
through the northern portion of the State, where I 
met with the only attempt at personal violence in the 
whole State. In one locality a Congregational min- 
ister was notorious for his opposition to abolitionism. 
15 



22 G Autobiography of Eey. Lutiiek Lee. 

Of course lie, being a minister of the Gospel, would 
not cause or countenance any thing like a mob, yet 
when I had the courage to lecture within his parish 
we came near having a mob. There was no disturb- 
ance during the lecture, but when the meeting was 
dismissed the street in front of the building was 
found full of people. What they were there for 
could be known only by what they said and did. 
Some were heard to call for the lecturer, crying, 
" Where is he ? Where is he ? Catch him ! Don't 
let him escape ! " It was a dark night, and all the 
light there was came from the lamps which were 
still burning in the lecture hall, as the people were 
coming out, so that persons could be seen when in the 
door by those outside. As I appeared in the door an 
egg was thrown at my head with great force. There 
was a step down in coming out, and I stepped down 
just in time to escape the egg, it passing directly over 
my head, and a lady who was next behind me received 
the missile square on her nose, and she fell as quick- 
ly as she would if she had been shot through the 
head, though she was not very seriously injured. The 
moment I stepped out on one side of the door I was 
in the dark, and safe, with friends around me, and we 
walked quietly with the dispersing throng and reached 
my lodging. The next morning all was quiet and all 
well except the lady who got the egg which was in- 
tended for me, and she only had a nose a little 
swollen and sore, from which she soon recovered. 



An Earnest Year's Work. 227 

But the year drew to a close, and there fell upon 
our antislavery ranks discouragement, and a dark fore- 
boding. There were more reasons than one for this, 
some of which I will name : 

1. The division in the antislavery ranks weakened 
both sides. 

2. The non-resistance, no-government, no-Church, 
no-Sabbath doctrine was so common and rampant 
among a class of antislavery men that the reputation 
of the whole sufiered. 

3. The political campaign of 1840 was disastrous 
to every thing good, and more especially to reforms 
which had to contend against popular sentiment, and 
make headway against the political tornado of log- 
cabins, hard cider, and coon skins. The like of this 
political fury was never seen before, and has never 
occurred since. I know what it was, for I stood in 
its focus, representing political antislavery, and boldly 
urged men to vote for James G. Birney for President 
of the United States. Of course, but little progress 
could be made, and only the most firm and uncompro- 
mising could be held under the concentrated contempt 
and scorn of Democrats and the demmciations, blus- 
ter, and wrath of Whigs ; yet the tempest passed and 
left our Liberty Party intact as the nucleus for the 
rallying of a mighty power. Mr. Birney was not 
elected, for the same reason that Mr. Yan Buren was 
not elected — neither got votes enough ; and if we threw 
away our votes, the Democrats threw away their votes, 



228 Autobiography of Key. Luther Lee. 

and the Whigs saved their votes, but to little pur- 
pose. 

4. The financial disaster of the country was anoth- 
er cause of embarrassment to the antislavery cause. 
The issue between the Democrats and Whigs was a 
national bank or no national bank, and the Whigs la- 
bored to show that a sound currency could not be 
maintained with par value, in all parts of the country, 
without a national bank, and consequently ruin must 
be realized unless such a bank was chartered by Con- 
gress. Daniel Webster and Henry Clay had sounded 
the alarm in the United States Senate during the pre- 
ceding session of Congress, and now it was the cam- 
paign cry and was echoed from every Whig political 
stump. This of itself was enough to produce a panic 
and financial ruin in a country where so much busi- 
ness was being conducted upon a credit system, and 
the ruin came. The Whigs took advantage of it and 
said, " We told you so." And, to turn it to account, 
they promised the working-classes two dollars a day 
and roast beef for dinner if they would vote the Whig 
ticket and secure a Whig administration. They suc- 
ceeded, bat the two dollars a day were slow in com- 
ing, and the roast beef was reserved for those who 
could afiord to purchase and eat it. Nevertheless, the 
financial ruin nearly crushed the antislavery societies. 
Funds could not be raised as heretofore to pay agents, 
and it was under all these difficulties that I resigned 
my agency. Soon after my resignation the Society 



A]s^ Earnest Year's "Work. 229 

was found to be bankrupt, and I secured a settlement 
by relinquishing more than haK the amount due me, 
as a condition of receiving the balance, which certain 
persons taxed themselves to pay, there being no funds 
in the treasury. I had no plan for the future save 
one purpose, which was to fight rum, slavery, and the 
devil whatever betide. 



230 Autobiography of Eev. Luthee Lee. 



CHAPTEK XXy. 

A Dark Day for Methodist A ntisla very— Another Attempt 
to Rally — A Failure— My own Course the while— Seces- 
sion. 

THE close of 1840 was the darkest day to me, and, 
as I know, to many other ministers and members 
of the Methodist Episcopal Church who had made 
themselves prominent in the antislavery discussion. 
The fact was the tide turned against us. The pro- 
slavery powers of the Church had virtually triumphed, 
and were preparing to make an end of the contest by 
striking down the leaders. We knew it, we felt it, 
we looked it when we looked in each other's faces, 
while we said but little. For myself, I defied them 
in my heart, for, as a local preacher as I was, I could 
entrench myself in some antislavery Quarterly Con- 
ference, where they could get no judgment against 
me for antislavery. And if they could dislodge me 
by any process, the world outside of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church was large enough to hold me, if 
they could and should hurl me out, and there were 
pulpits enough open to me. But I was not the only 
one to suffer ; there were many members and some 
ministers whom I had been instrumental in leading 
on in antislavery, until we had all reached what had 
become a precipice, from which we m^ust start back, 



A Dark Day fos Methodist AAmsLAYERY. 231 

or go over ; and I felt for others more than for myself ; 
yet I said but little, and waited to see what would 
happen. 

The Eev. Orange Scott, a member of the New En- 
gland Conference, had been the acknowledged leader 
of the Methodist antislavery movement, and it was 
believed that he would be the first victim, and that a 
sufficient number of those who had stood by him in 
time past were now tired of the strife, and willing to 
give him up for the sake of j)eace and for restoration 
to the favor of the authorities of the Church and to 
their former positions. 

Brother Scott had retired from active labor, and was 
residing at ISTewbury, Yt., on account of poor health. 
He wrote a few articles for the press about this time, in 
which he appeared to make some concessions, w^hicli I 
regarded as feelers, to learn, if possible, his security 
or insecurity in the Church. IsTot being satisfied w^itli 
the state of things, he made one more effort to rally 
the antislavery forces in the Church. For this pur- 
pose he came to Lowell, Mass., where he had great 
strength, and organized a joint stock company for the 
purpose of publishing a weekly paper, to be called 
" The New England Christian Advocate." I had noth- 
ing to do with projecting the enterprise, or in organ- 
izing the association, but was invited to become the 
editor. As I was now out of employment I ac- 
cepted. 

It was too late ; the old forces could not be rallied, 



232 AUTOBIOGEAPHY OF EeV. LuTHEE LeE. 

the paper was not sustained, and was discontinued at 
the end of the first volume. 

I was not idle. In addition to editing the j)aper I 
preached as a supply in the First Methodist Episcopal 
Church in Lowell for a time, supplied vacant pulpits 
when called upon, and lectured on slavery and tem- 
perance anywhere and every- where I was invited, and 
usually had as much on hand as I could attend to. 

During the winter I was urged by friends in Maine 
to visit that State for the purpose of making an argu- 
ment before a committee of the legislature in support 
of petitions asking for antislavery action. I went, 
and not only addressed the committee of the legisla- 
ture, but preached and lectured on slavery. When 
my work was done I started for home in the stage, 
leaving Augusta at four o'clock P. M. The weather 
was colder than I had ever seen before. At ten 
o'clock the stage stopped for the night, but at four 
A. M. we started again, and were to reach Portland, 
the terminus of the railroad, to take the eight o'clock 
train for Boston. It was the coldest ride I ever en- 
joyed, or, rather, endured. It appeared as though I 
must perish. The stage was a few moments behind 
time, and we had to jump from the stage into the car, 
and away we went. There was a red-hot stove in the 
car, and then for the first time I appreciated the 
blessedness of railroad travel in cold weather. 

On my arrival home I learned that the temperance 
society had invited all the ministers of Lowell to 



A Dark Day for Methodist Axtislayery. 233 

preach a sermon before the society in the City Hall, 
and that the ministers had held a meeting, accepted, 
and divided the work, assigning a particular subject 
to each minister. They had assigned to me the sub- 
ject of Prohibitory Law. I was ripe on that subject, 
having advocated prohibition in some newspaper arti- 
cles I wrote for the press in 1836. This, however, 
was not known in Lowell. 

"When my turn came I delivered my sermon to an 
immense crowd, his Honor the Mayor presiding. In 
it, I believe, I vindicated the right and necessity of 
prohibiting the traffic in intoxicating drinks by penal 
law. It was pubhshed, and I believe was the first of 
the kind published in this country. 

When " The N"ew England Christian Advocate " 
was discontinued, the association left the subscription 
list in my hands, and I availed myself of it by issuing 
a semi-monthly, entitled "The Sword of Truth." 
This was not intended to be distinctly antislavery, 
but was intended to oppose some wild theological 
views springing up, and to defend orthodox views. 
The opposers of antislavery would not take it because 
it belonged to a notorious abolitionist, and many of 
the antislavery Methodists would not take it because 
it did not oppose slavery as the " Advocate " had done. 
This left me only the support of the few orthodox 
people outside of the Methodist Episcopal Church 
who would patronize my enterprise, and I soon dis- 
continued the " Sword." 



234 Autobiography of Eey. Luther Lee. 

There was an unoccupied Metliodist Episcopal 
Churcli in Andover. They had been regularly sup- 
plied from the Conference, but, owing to their ex- 
treme antislavery views and the want of sufficient 
support, they were left without a pastor. They in- 
vited me to preach to them, and I did so, and removed 
to Andover in the autumn of 1842. "While I sup- 
plied the church on the Sabbath, I went out and 
lectured wherever there was a call, and kept up my 
war against slavery. 

It was during this period that what was called the 
new science of mesmerism found its way into An- 
dover, and for a time produced much excitement. I 
investigated the subject until I believed that I under- 
stood it as well as any of the operators, and could do 
as much with it as the best of them, and then I aban- 
doned it forever, l^ot because I believed it was sin- 
ful in itself, but for the reason that I believed that no 
man could practice it as a profession, nor even fre- 
quently and publicly, without impairing his ministe- 
rial reputation. Whatever he may do, or however 
honestly he may do it, the incredulity of many will 
cause them to believe him to be an impostor, and his 
reputation will be damaged. I felt I had not finished 
the work which God had given me to do, and dared 
not to put my reputation at hazard. 

Soon after this there came one of the traveling 
operators in mesmerism, and gave out that he would 
perform in a public hall. I went to the entertain- 



A Dark Day for Methodist Antislayery. 235 

ment and saw a number of the students from the 
theological school present who knew me and my rela- 
tion to the subject. The lecturer remarked that it 
was through the mesmeric power that Christ per- 
formed all his miracles, and that if he was as perfect 
as Christ was he could do as great miracles as Christ 
did. When he had concluded he invited any one to 
ask any questions. I saw the students all look at me, 
which I understood to mean, " Will you let that 
pass ? " I rose and inquired if I understood him 
aright, and got him to repeat his words, and then 
stated that I could see no tendency in the power he 
displayed to produce a miracle if that power was 
increased to any extent. " Christ fed five thousand. 
ISTow if you can feed one person, or partially feed 
one person, I will admit that the same power in 
kind might feed five thousand if sufficiently in- 
creased." 

" That is all plain," he answered ; " I can put a per- 
son into the mesmeric state and cause him to think 
that he eats, and he will be satisfied." 

I rejoined, Suppose I allow all that, I must in- 
quire how many baskets' full you will have left ? " 
If he had unexpectedly been struck by the current 
of a galvanic battery he would not have been more 
astonished. 

All this time the prospects of the earnest, out- 
spoken ministers and people in the Methodist Epis- 
copal Church grew darker and darker, and while all 



236 AUTOBIOGEAPHY OF EeY. LuTHEK LeE. 

thought much and asked each other what the next 
move would be, and what the end of these things 
would be, no one could tell. The actual state of 
things will be described in a future chapter. It 
was in this darkest and most sullenly silent hour that 
had held the murky atmosphere in abeyance for years 
that the bomb of secession was exploded. 



The Fikst Secession Tbumpet-blast. 237 



CHAPTEE XXVI. 

The First Secession Trumpet- blast— It Fell upon My own 
Ears with Startling Surprise— My own Position Unknown 
— A Letter from the Boston Preachers* Meeting on the Sub- 
ject—The Reason why I was not Consulted. 

IJST October, 1842, Kev. Orange Scott held a private 
meeting with, a few confidential friends, in which 
it was agreed to secede from the Methodist Episcopal 
Church and organize a new Church upon antislavery 
principles to be called ''The Wesley an Methodist 
Connection of America." The first that I knew of 
this movement was through the press. I wondered, 
as I had cause, why I was not consulted ; but there 
was a reason which will soon appear. The facts 
which are about to be given show that neither party 
knew what my views were in regard to secession, and 
what my course would be. 

The publication of Brother Scott's plan of secession 
produced an excitement among all classes. The 
Preachers' Meeting of Boston caused one of their 
number to write to me a letter in the following 
words : 

If your principles and convictions of right will allow you 
to do so, I know what I say when I tell you that you shall 
have any position in the Church you desire if you will come 
out and wield your vigorous pen against secession. 



238 Autobiography of Eey. Luther Lee. 

The above letter reached me before I met or heard 
from Brother Scott, and I answered it the same hour 
it was received by simply saying that Luther Lee was 
not in the market. 

When I met Brother Scott I demanded of him 
why he did not consult me in regard to that meeting 
and let me take part in its deliberations. He looked 
me square in my eyes, like an honest man, as he was, 
and said : " I was afraid of you ; I did not know that 
you would agree with me, and I knew if you did not, 
and I consulted you, you would sound the alarm 
before I could get my document before the people, 
and forestall and greatly embarrass my movement. 
I wanted to get my document before the people 
before they heard of it from any other source." 

I had no plan matured for my future course when 
the secession document reached me. I was waiting to 
see what would come to pass. I felt that the time 
was near when justice to myself, to the Methodist 
Episcopal Church, to God and the world, would require 
me to assume some position different from that which I 
occupied. During those dark days, when every body 
must have known I was not satisfied with my posi- 
tion, I was offered a position and a pulpit in other 
denominations ; but I was a Methodist, and I knew I 
was a Methodist from the deep and honest convic- 
tions of my heart. I also knew that those who reached 
out to me a kind, Christian hand were not Meth- 
odists, though good Christian people. I therefore 



The Fikst Secession Troipet-blast. 239 

held myself in a very unsatisfactory and uncomfort- 
able position. Wlien I heard the trnmp of secession 
it impressed me with the idea that the organization 
of a new connection, thoroughly Methodistic and 
thoroughly antislavery, would, in the circumstances, 
best jDromote the glory and truth of God and the cause 
of humanity, and place me in a better position to do 
the work to which I believed God had called me. 
Had I known all that would follow, which is not 
allov/ed to mortals, I might have decided upon an- 
other course than that 1 pursued, and yet I cannot 
say that I should. I had full confidence in the Bos- 
ton brethren, and believed that they would fulfill 
their promise to the utmost of their ability if I pur- 
sued the course they suggested ; but in view of all the 
efforts which had been made to crush antislavery out 
of the Church, for me to draw my sword in opposi- 
tion to secession would be to justify church fellow- 
ship w^ith slave-holders, and look like an attempt to 
drive back into such fellowship those who w^ere at- 
tempting to escape from it. So deep was my convic- 
tion that slavery was "the sum of all villainies" that 
I shrunk from such a position as a living man would 
shrink from the touch of death. So things appeared 
to me when looking at them from my own stand- 
point. Others, looking at them from another stand- 
point, saw them differently. I resolved to go with 
the secessionists, and with me to resolve was always 
to act, and at once I withdrew from the Methodist 



240 Autobiography of Eev. Luther Lee. 

Episcopal Cliurcli, assigning my reasons in a printed 
document. 

The full reasons wliicli I believed justified seces- 
sion must be given hereafter, but it is necessary to 
remark here that in going with the secessionists I did 
not then, and do not now, hold myself responsible 
for the motives that controlled all seceders ; but I was 
then, and am now, responsible for the act of secession 
and for the motives which led me to perform that act. 
Of course myself and others were severely censured 
and our motives were impugned. Ever since my re- 
turn to the Methodist Episcopal Church some of the 
older members of the Detroit Conference have at- 
tempted to convince me that my act of seceding was 
wrong. Such persons have no conception of the real 
facts in the case, as they were then and are still seen 
by me ; and in giving my reasons for secession I shall 
simply state the facts as they appeared to me, seen 
from my stand-point. "Without such statement my 
book would not be a truthful, faithful autobiography. 



Ekasons foe Secession. 



CHAPTER XXVII. 

Reasons which I believed. Justified. Secession from the 
Methodist Episcopal Chu.peh. 

¥HEN I entered upon mj antislayery work I had 
not tlie shadow of a thought of ever leaving the 
Methodist Episcopal Church. I loved her and was 
ardently devoted to her interests, as my entire past 
life testified. My only object was to purify her from 
the crime and corruption of slavery, and I believe 
the same to have been true of all the early leading an- 
tislavery ministers in the Church. Of course we did 
not understand the herculean work we undertook. 
It was probably for the best that we did not under- 
stand the matter. As we proceeded light was evolved, 
unknown facts came to light, and new facts transpired, 
and we saw more and more the difiiculties of freeing 
the Church from slavery, so long as slave-holding ex- 
isted in the State. The weight of evidence seemed 
to be against success, and we appeared defeated in the 
object we set out to secure ; and it was natural to 
review and sum up what had been done and inquire 
what more could be done ; and here follows a state- 
ment of the facts as I found them, summing up from 
my stand-point. 

1. I believed, I knew, that slavery was a great evil, 
16 



242 AUTOBIOGKAPHY OF ReY. LuTHER LeE. 

a sin against God and man — so bad, so corrupt and 
corrupting in its influence, as to be incapable of cure 
or of essentially relieving modification. It is too late 
to require proof of this fact. 

II. The Methodist Episcopal Church appeared to 
indorse, and to be determined to defend and maintain, 
slavery as it existed in the Church, while I was un- 
able to see any essential moral difference between 
slavery in the Church and slavery out of the Church. 
Of this statement there appeared to me the most con- 
clusive evidence, and, as it is a fundamental fact, a 
brief outline of the proof is given. 

1. Ministers were allowed, without rebuke from 
the authorities of the Church, to advocate slavery as 
morally right, as indorsed in the Scriptures, as a 
divine institution; and this some did in their pul- 
pits, in Annual Conferences, in General Conference, 
and in public discussions. The facts are on record 
elsewhere. 

2. Ministers were not allowed to condemn slavery 
as a sin in their pul^Dits or out of their pulpits with- 
out censure. The General Conference advised all 
wholly to refrain, and Annual Conferences construed 
that advice as law ; so that every minister that 
preached a sermon against slavery, or declared in pub- 
lic his belief that slavery was a sin, was judged to be 
contumacious and insubordinate ; and men were tried 
and condemned just on such charges, based upon such 
facts, as in the cases of True, Floy, and others in the 



Eeaso:n"s for Secessio:m. 



243 



N'ew York Conference, and many others in different 
localities. 

3. The Bishops presiding in Annual Conferences 
put resolutions to vote justifying slavery and con- 
demning abolition, but refused to put any resolution 
to vote in an Annual Conference condemning slavery 
as a sin. These facts are recorded elsewhere, and 
have become matters of history. 

4. The General Conference of 1836, by resolution, 
condemned, unheard, two of its members on a report 
that they had attended and spoken at an abohtion 
meeting, while it refused to censure slavery. 

5. The General Conference of 1840 censured, by 
vote, 'New Hampshire, New England, and Oneida 
Annual Conferences for their action against slavery, 
while it laid upon the table an amendment to include 
in the censure the Georgia Conference for equally 
decisive action in favor of slavery. Other Annual 
Conferences acted in favor of slavery, of which no 
notice was ever taken. 

6. The General Conference of 1840 adopted what 
is known as the colored testimony resolution, which 
was undeniably in the interest of slavery, and was 
antichristian, and not to be justified on any moral 
ground. This involved the whole Church in the dis- 
grace and guilt of denying to a class of Christians the 
rights of membership in the Church. 

7. While the Church allowed both ministers and 
members to hold slaves, and intended to continue to 



24:4 Autobiography of Key. Luther Lee. 

do so, slie waged what was intended to be an exter- 
minating war upon abolitionism and abolitionists, in- 
tending to silence both, or drive them out of the 
Church. Of this there was not a shadow of doubt. 

8. All the official organs of the Church took sides 
in favor of slavery as it existed in the Church, and 
against antislavery and antislavery men, attacking 
their characters, impugning their motives, and de- 
scendng to a low blackguarding of them. In this 
course the " Christian Advocate and Journal," of 
New York city, took the lead. Of my humble self, 
of whom it said as good things as it ever said of any 
man, it now, for no other reason than that I opposed 
slavery, attacked me, representing me as the enemy 
of the Church, unworthy of a place in her pulpits, 
and did all it could to destroy my influence, and went 
so far and let itself down so low as to say I was " a 
metaphysical tadpole, always wiggling to stir up the 
muddy waters of strife." 

9. The administrators of the Church pursued a 
persistent course of opposition and oppression toward 
antislavery ministers and Churches. This is true of 
Bishops and presiding elders. Presiding elders were 
removed from their districts because they would not 
pledge themselves to keep silent on the subject of 
slavery. Preachers were sent to poor charges, and 
strong antislavery Churches had pro- slavery preachers 
sent to them to annoy and wear them out. These 
facts are on record and have become history. In one 



Reasons for SECEssioisr. 



245 



ease a strong antislavery Church requested the Bishop 
to send them a man they named. The Bishop re- 
fused. They then asked him to send them any one 
of five they named, and he refused. They then asked 
him to leave them without a pastor, and he refused 
that. They then asked him not to send them a par- 
ticular man they named; they would receive any 
other preacher he saw fit to send them save that one, 
who was offensive to them ; and the Bishop sent them 
that man. They refused to let him into their pulpit, 
for which the preacher, by a published manifesto, 
declared them all expelled en masse. The Church 
denied his right to do so, and appealed from his 
authority to the next Conference, in which another 
Bishop presided, who decided in favor of the legal- 
ity of the preacher's act, and against the Church, 
adding, as a comment, " There is energy in Method- 
ism 

All these transactions convinced me and others that 
the authorities of the Methodist Episcopal Church 
intended to support slavery as it existed in the 
Church, and to drive antislavery and antislavery men 
out of it. 

III. The course pursued by the authorities of the 
Church, as has been set forth, and as might be set 
forth in greater numbers of cases and in fuller de- 
tail, had crippled the antislavery cause in the 
Church. 

The best, strongest, and most active antislavery 



216 AuTOBioaRAPiiY OF Eey. LuTHEii Lee. 

preacliers, being made the principal objects of all 
these assaults and proscriptions, were damaged in 
their reputations and shorn of their prestige and in- 
fluence. 

Many of the weaker sort, who were bold when 
there was no danger, were unable to breast the storm, 
and ceased to act with the antislavery party, by which 
the abolitionists were cut down in their number of 
Yotes in the Conference. 

Numbers got tired of the contest with the authori- 
ties of the Church and of the proscription it brought 
upon them, and went over to the other side, some of 
whom confessed that they were governed by the 
" bread-and-butter argument " in so doing. 

The aspect now was very dark. Some of the au- 
thorities boasted that antislavery was subdued in the 
Church, and the belief was common that there was 
not strength enough to protect the leaders, and that 
they would be stricken down at the next session of 
the Conference. It was whispered that Orange Scott 
would be th^ first victim, and it was believed by 
many. There appeared but one alternative, either to 
submit and take the ecclesiastical gag, or be ostra- 
cised. Some had abeady closed their lips who had 
been wont to speak for the dumb. That I could not 
do. I could not remain any longer in a slave-holding 
Church, where I was not free to oppose such a damn- 
ing sin as slavery, and I seceded. 



Tua Utica Conyention. 



247 



CHAPTEE XXYIII. 

The Utiea Convention — Organization of the Wesleyan 
Methodist Connection of America. 

THE paper which contained the secession procla- 
mation also contained a call for a convention to 
assemble at Utica, IST. Y., May 31, 184:3^ for the pur- 
pose of organizing the proposed new Church. I 
knew enough of human nature to know that there 
would be a want of harmony in the convention, and 
that it would be diflScult to unite all parties on all 
the questions involved in Church government. Hav- 
ing given in my adhesion to the measure, I went to 
the convention determined to secure an organization, 
and to get as good a one as possible. I went pre- 
pared to make great sacrifices of my personal views, 
if necessary, to secure an organization, trusting to 
the future to improve it. There were extreme views. 
Rev. E. Smith, from the "West, was incHned to High- 
Chm'ch notions. Brother Scott, who was the ac- 
knowledged leader of the movement, and who was 
unanimously elected president of the convention, was 
in favor of an episcopacy, with limited and well- 
guarded povv^ers. Some were congregational in their 
views, and were for absolute independence, making 
each congregation absolutely independent of all be- 



248 Autobiography of Eey. Luther Lee. 

yond. I soon became convinced that neither extreme 
could be carried ont, and struck for a medium ground, 
and that was the kind of organization which was 
finally adopted. I soon became convinced that my 
moderate views must prevail, or we could get no or- 
ganization, for nothing else could command a ma- 
jority, and soon had the satisfaction of seeing them 
adopted, and thought the danger over. Alas, how 
mistaken was I ! 

An unexpected element of discord was introduced 
by the Eev. Edward Smith, from Pittsburgh, which 
he was determined to force into the Discipline. It 
was a rule excluding all members of secret societies 
from the Church. Smith w^as a man of great power, 
and had as strong a will as any man I ever knew, and, 
of course, he rallied a party, whom he held in his 
strong hand. 

Orange Scott, Jotham Horton, and LaRoy Sunder- 
land were Masons, and, being strong men, had their 
party, and steel met steel, and for a time it really 
looked as though the convention would break up with- 
out effecting an organization, or divide and result in 
two organizations, which would be fatal to success, 
and which I resolved to prevent if possible. For- 
tunately for my purpose, no man in the convention 
knew what my views were on the subject. I was a 
Mason, but did not feel myself under any masonic 
obligation to make myself its champion on that occa- 
sion, as all true Masons know I was not. This fact 



The Utica Coityextio]^. 



249 



borne in mind will throw some light on my after 
conduct. While the debate and excitement raged 
I lay low, reserving what strength I had for 
the crisis, which I saw would soon come. A point 
w^as reached where it was seen that Smith could not 
command a majority for his extreme and proscriptive 
rule, and he declared that he and his friends w^ould 
withdraw from the convention, and take no further 
part in its proceedings. Tliis I knew would be fatal, 
and felt that my time for action had come, for which 
I was prepared. To meet that crisis I had carefully 
drawn a compromise rule, which was not law, but 
w^hich simply advised our people not to join secret 
societies. This I offered as a compromise, and en- 
forced it by the best speech I was capable of making. 
My extreme solicitude to secure an organization en- 
abled me to throw some pathos into my effort, and 
by shedding a few tears — some others shed tears be- 
cause I did — ^my rule was adopted by a handsome 
majority. Scott, Horton, and Sunderland did not 
like it ; they wanted nothing said on the subject ; but 
they accepted of it in good faith as a compromise, 
and as the best thing that could be obtained in the 
circumxstances. Smith frowned darkly, and would 
have bolted had not the compromise swept away 
from him so many of his supporters that he could 
not bolt with any show of strength, and he held on 
and reserved himself for a future occasion, as will be 
seen. 



250 AUTOBIOGKAPHY OF KeY. LuTHER LeE. 

The Discipline being completed, the convention 
proceeded to divide the territory in which we had 
any show of strength into Annnal Conferences, and 
appointing a president jpro tern, for each. In each 
Conference all the charges that were represented or 
reported were supplied by appointing snch preachers 
to them as reported themselves, or as were reported 
as ready for work. In this there was mnch uncer- 
tainty for want of reliable information, as was learned 
when the several Conferences met in their first ses- 
sions. I was appointed president of the ^Tew York 
Conference, and stationed at Syracuse. The work of 
the convention being finished it adjourned sine die^ 
and each man hastened to his post or field of labor. 
In view of the haste in which the business of the 
convention was done, and the uncertainty of the re- 
sults which might follow, the first General Confer- 
ence was appointed to assemble in Cleveland in Oc- 
tober, 1844, only about one year and a half after the 
convention. 



Effect of the Yv'esleyai^ Okganization. 251 



The Effect of the Wesleyan Organization upon the Meth- 
odist Episcopal Ciiu-rch — How their Action Affected the 
Kew Movement— My personal Efforts. 



HE policy of the Methodist Episcopal Church ^vas 



X at once changed on the announcement of the 
secession plan. Between the issuing of the call and 
the meeting of the convention arrangements were 
made for holding three Methodist Episcopal conven- 
tions in 'New England — one in Boston, one in Hallo- 
well, Me., and one in Claremont, IT. H. The Bishops, 
w^ho had refused to put to vote any resolution in the 
Annual Conferences which declared slave-holding a 
sin, now allowed them to adopt such resolutions with- 
out obstruction. All were free to talk against slavery ; 
lips which had always been closed, or opened only to 
execrate abolition and traduce abolitionists, were now 
opened wide to denounce slavery, and one wild anti- 
slavery shout was heard, which nearly drowned the 
vociferations of the few seceders. This course, no 
doubt, very much crippled the Wesleyan movement, 
and prevented many from seceding from the Meth- 
odist Episcopal Church who would otherwise have 
done so. It furnished an excuse for some who had 
been longing for deliverance from pro-slavery pro- 



CHAPTEE XXIX. 




252 Autobiography of Ret. Luthes Lee. 

scription, jet loved tlie loaves and fishes Nvliicli seced- 
ers had to leave behind them. Many honest men, yet 
superficial thinkers, believed there was now no good 
reason for seceding, as they were free to oppose slav- 
ery in the Chnrch. But for this stroke of pohcy the 
new movement would have swept New England, and 
become strong in other parts of the country. As it 
was, it made a good fight for a few years. 

From the convention I hastened home, and, as soon 
as possible, I removed with my family from Andover, 
Mass., to Syracuse, N". T., to which I had been ap- 
pointed by the convention. This appointment was 
but little more than nominal, as the arrangement was 
first made between me and a delegation from Syra- 
cuse to the convention. On reaching Syracuse 1 
found a small band of seceders, but no place of wor- 
ship, and I held forth on the first Sabbath in the 
Congregational church, which was offered for me and 
my people. 

My friends secured a hall as a place of worship, and 
I went to work in earnest, in the face of great oppo- 
sition from the Methodist Episcopal Church, as my 
membership were nearly all seceders from them, and 
as new ones occasionally left them and came over to 
us. My Church was neither numerous nor wealthy, 
but a truer company of men and women never 
breathed. I had frequent calls to visit other places 
to preach and lecture, and in the course of the year 
I organized a number of Wesleyan Churches. I 



Effect of the YfESLEYA:^ Oeganization. 253 



also wrote constantly for tlie "True "Wesleyan," a 
weekly paper 23i"iblished by Brother Scott, and wliicli 
became tlie organ of the Wesleyan Connection. I 
was abundant in labors, preaching more, lecturing 
more, and writing more, than any other man in the 
field. When I commenced my labors in Syracuse, the 
Unitarian society was building a new house of wor- 
ship, and when it was finished my Church secured 
the one they vacated, which greatly enlarged my 
opportunity to do good, and build up a Church and 
congregation. 

In the autumn of 1843 a messenger was sent to me 
from Jamestown, Chautauqua County, in the western 
part of the State, who told me the following story : 
He was a principal member of the Methodist Epis- 
copal Church in Jamestown. A musical instrument 
had been introduced into the church, to which some 
were opposed, of whom he was one. While the 
members were discussing the question preparatory for 
a final vote, whether the instrument should remain in 
the church or be removed, the preacher in charge 
came in and removed it vi et armis^ and refused to 
allow them to vote on the question, saying he had an 
absolute right to control the music, and that they had 
no voice in the matter. The exercise of such power 
was worse to him than the instrument of music, and 
the two parties united to contest the question with the 
preacher, and carried it to the Quarterly Conference. 
The presiding elder decided that the preacher was 



254 Autobiography of Rev. Luther Lee. 

right, and would not allow an appeal to tlie body. 
They then appealed to the Annual Conference, and 
the Bishop decided that the preacher and presiding 
elder were right. During this contest the preacher 
had been very overbearing and insulting in his lan- 
guage, and they felt that they could not submit to it, 
but did not know w^hat they could do to relieve them- 
selves. 

At that stage of things a local preacher from a 
distance visited the place, and learning their condi- 
tion, asked them why they did not go to the "Wesley- 
ans? But vAo were they? They did not know 
that there were any such people. lie could tell them 
but little about the "Wesleyans, but said there was a 
preacher in Syracuse, by the name of Luther Lee, 
who, if they would write to him, would give them all 
necessary information. 

They were too much in eai^nest to trust to letters, 
and sent their leading man to see me. I explained to 
him our origin, our principles, and our church govern- 
ment. It was all right, except our antislavery ; they 
were not antislavery, and he did not Imow how they 
would bear that. I told him I could do nothing for 
them unless they would accept of our antislavery ; it 
was our rallying-cry. 

He concluded to try it, and engaged me to visit 
them at a future day agreed upon, and he promised 
to make arrangements for me to lecture at different 
points in the vicinity, as I judged it would not pay to 



My Personal Efforts. 



255 



make so long a journey to address one congregation. 
He assured me there were some persons of his ac- 
quaintance into whose hands he could put that matter 
who would take pleasure in making arrangements for 
any number of lectures. I gave him our Discipline, 
and dismissed him with my blessing. The result of 
my yisit will be given in the next chapter. 



256 AUTOEIOGEAPIIY OF EeV. LuTIlEK LeE. 



CHAPTER XXX. 

Visit to Jamestown— Lecture in several Places— An Epis- 
copal Rally— A great Fight. 

OJf arriving at Jamestown I learned that several 
appointments had been made for me to lecture 
on the subject of slavery. There were a few anti- 
slavery men scattered through the county, but as it 
was a border county but little had been done, and 
they were ready to rally on learning that a foreign 
lecturer was among them. The campaign was under 
the charge of a Mr. Broadhead, a local preacher of 
much ability. He had traveled under the presiding 
elder, and knew the country and the people. 

I commenced in Jamestown, and as I had been in- 
formed that those who had sent for me were not anti- 
slavery, I had sense and policy enough to make my 
first lecture an expose of the wickedness of slavery. 
I did what I could to lift the vail from its horrid 
features, and expose its cruelty, corruption, and damn- 
ing guilt. When I had concluded I have no doubt 
every hearer was opposed to slavery in the abstract, 
and I left the discussion of its relation to the ITorth 
and the Church for the future, and proceeded to ful- 
fill the appointments that had been made elsewhere. 
I had one appointment to lecture of an afternoon in 



YisiT TO Jamestowk. 



257 



tliG Congregational cliurcli in Salem, on the Lake 
Shore Road. "When I arrived and had entered the 
pulpit. Brother Broadhead, who was with me, whis- 
pered, and told me there were a dozen or more Meth- 
odist Episcopal preachers in the congregation. I 
knew enough about Methodist preachers to be aware 
that if a dozen of them had got together to hear me 
lecture, it meant business, and I resolved to make the 
most of my first chance. If they had come to attack 
me, as I believed, I determined to give a good ex- 
cuse for making their assault. I attacked the pro- 
slavery position of the Methodist Episcopal Church, 
and recited her pro-slavery action, and showed up 
the arbitrary and oppressive measures resorted to by 
the authorities of the Church to crush abohtionists. 
These statements, though literally true, were unknown 
to my clerical hearers, and they regarded them as 
abolition slanders. 

By the time I had finished my lecture they were 
lashed into fury, and before I had time to sit down 
they were all clamoring for a hearing. I had blown 
off my effervescence, was quite cool, and said, " One 
at a time, gentlemen, and you will be better under- 
stood." This had a calming infiuence, and one spoke 
for the whole, and charged me with having slandered 
the Church, and challenged me for a public discussion 
of the questions in issue. 

I told them I had an engagement for every day 

until I should be compelled to return home, yet I 
11 



258 AuTOBioaRAPHY OF Eev. Luther Lee. 

would accept tlieir challenge if we could agree on 
proper terms of debate and the time of meeting. So 
anxious were they for a discussion that I had no dif- 
ficulty in obtaining fair terms. It was agreed that 
we should meet in that church where we were in four 
weeks from that time. 

Two questions were to be discussed : 

1. Does the Methodist Episcopal Church justify 
slavery ? 

2. Is the government of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church arbitrary and unscriptural ? 

It was agreed that each party should speak thirty 
minutes alternately. They were left free to bring 
who or as many as they pleased. 

It was agreed that they should choose one man and 
I one, and they two should choose a third, and that 
the three should preside and keep order, and decide 
all questions of order, but should not decide the main 
questions. 

At the time agreed upon we met and opened the 
debate in the Congregational house where the chal- 
lenge was given, but we soon found it was too small. 
The Methodists had a large house near by, and an 
effort was made to obtain it ; but the trustees refused 
to open it for the debate. This was thought to be 
illiberal, as their preachers had given the challenge. 
The Baptists had a large house about two miles away, 
on the main road, which they offered, and we went to 
that. 



Visit to Ja:^iestow^t. 



259 



My opponents were Eev. J. J. Steadman, presiding 
elder of Jamestown District ; Rev. Professor Calvin 
Kingsley, of Alleghany College ; and Rev. Thomas 
Graham, from some charge within the district — three 
against one. I had half the time, but had to talk as 
much as the three. But I had the advantage, for I 
was an experienced debater. I understood the sub- 
ject better than they did, and, in the main, I had the 
right side. 

I had the affirmative, and very soon put them on 
the defense and gave them as much work as they 
knew how to attend to. 

On the first question, " Does the Methodist Epis- 
copal Church justify slavery ? " I opened with the 
undeniable fact that it was a slave-holding Church ; 
that there were hundreds of slave-holding preachers 
and thousands of slave-holding members. I insisted 
that slavery existed in the Church, and it made no 
effort to get it out, but opposed every effort that was 
made to get it out, and did all that could be done to 
suppress the discussion of its wrong. If the Church 
did not justify slavery she did not justify her own 
conduct. If the Church did not justify slavery she 
did not justify the conduct of her ministers and 
members, and did not justify what she allowed. 
Slavery is right or wrong, and if the Church does 
not justify it as right she must condemn it as wrong ; 
and she proclaims her ministers and members wrong- 
doers, and herself a wrong-doer, for allowing minis- 



260 Autobiography of Rev. Luther Lee. 

ters and members to practice wrong without disci- 
plining them for their wrong deeds. 

This argument had great power with a popular au- 
dience, and my opponents found it difficult to struggle 
agiiinst it. 

I supported my argument further by quoting and 
urging the principal facts of the terrible war which 
the Church had waged against the abolitionists, ex- 
pelling members and deposing ministers for their op- 
position to slavery. ISTumbers of clear cases were 
stated, and names, places, and dates given. 

Pro-slavery resolutions were cited passed by slave- 
holding Conferences, while Conferences were not 
allowed to resolve that slave-holding is a sin. 

The advocacy of slavery as a biblical and divine 
institution by prominent ministers was appealed to as 
proof that the Church justified slavery. They had 
done it without rebuke, while the highest authority 
of the Church had condemned abolitionism without 
qualification, and condemned ministers in the same 
unqualified language for attending an abolition 
meeting. 

The pro-slavery action of the General Conference 
was cited and applied with force. The colored-tes- 
timony resolution, so-called, adopted by the General 
Conference in 1844, was urged as proof. This reso- 
lution condemned the act of allowing colored mem- 
bers of the Church, however pious and truthful, to 
testify in a Church trial against a white m^an. 



A Gkeat Fight. 



261 



The second question, " Is the government of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church arbitrary and unscript- 
nral ? " was argued with equal earnestness. 

The first part of the question was soon disposed of 
by me. That is arbitrary which depends upon the 
will of one man. The Bishops of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church have the power to appoint every 
traveling preacher to his field of labor, and is under 
no constitutional or statutory obligation to consult the 
preacher or the Church to which he is sent. Nothing 
could be more arbitrary. I was under no obligation 
to prove that a thing is wrong because it is arbi- 
trary ; it is only the fact, and that cannot be denied, 
yet cases of its abuse were cited. 

On the second part of the question I rested my 
argument mainly upon two facts, for which I con- 
tended sharply. The first was that the apostolic 
Churches were independent, self-governing bodies, 
and that the Methodist Episcopal Church excludes 
the laity from all voice in the rule-making power of 
the Church, which was then a fact. The above is a 
meager outline. The debate took a wide range, and 
was continued three days and evenings. Many side 
issues were contested. One episode is worthy of 
notice. 

When I introduced the colored-testimony resolution 
my opponents denied that any such resolution was 
adopted by the General Conference. I re-affirmed 
my statement very positively, and they denied it 



282 AuTOBioGEApnY OF Eey. Luthee Lee. 

again as positively as I affirmed. I knew tliey were 
mistaken, but could say nothing to convince them, 
tliey were so certain that they were right. This 
placed me at a disadvantage, for it was the word of 
one against three. I felt stung, and, with an im- 
pressive earnestness, affirmed that I was right, and 
that if God let me live I would in due time appear 
in that community with the documents, and prove 
the truth of what I affirmed. 

My opponents unwisely attempted to make a little 
capital out of my predicament, and said I had no 
business there without the documents ; that they had 
all the documents they needed. 

At once I demanded that they produce the docu- 
ments. Up to this point, I have no doubt, they be- 
lieved they were right, but the confidence with which 
I demanded the documents shook their faith in them- 
selves, and they refused to produce them. I appealed 
to the presiding board, and they decided that they 
were bound to produce them, and they presented a 
file of the official organ of the Church, in which 
the proceedings of the General Conference were pub- 
lished. I was so familiar with the whole proceedings 
that it took me but a moment to select the right num- 
ber, and to find the right paragraph, and I read the 
matter just as I had affirmed. This was very dam- 
aging to them, but I was content to be vindicated 
without making any further words over the matter. 

When the debate closed some of the people were 



A Great Fight. 



263 



urgent to have it put to the vote of the assembly. 
They opposed it, and I snpported them so far as to 
say that no provision had been made in the contract 
for a vote, and that neither party had any right to 
demand a vote. The moderators wisely refused to 
put it to a vote, but the people had become excited, 
and the moment the debate was declared closed one 
man put the vote, and it was carried in my favor with 
a general shout. 

At the close my opponents challenged me to renew 
the debate with them in four weeks at Jamestown, 
which was the objective point of my first visit, and I 
accepted. "Why they wished to renew the debate at 
that point I could not understand, unless they sup- 
posed they had lost the argument because I was so 
much better prepared for the discussion than they, 
which I certainly was, and that they believed they 
could recover themselves and their cause by renew- 
ing it after they should have made thorough prepa- 
ration. 



264 AUTOBIOGKAPHY OF E.EV. LuTHER LeE. 



CHAPTEE XXXI. 

The Second Debate — The Result — The Organization of a 
Wesley an Church at Jamestown. 

IK the first discussion I found it physically hard 
work to speak against three opponents, being com- 
pelled to speak three times as much as one of them, 
and secured the assistance of the Eev. Edward Smith 
for the second debate. Mr. Smith was a man of su- 
perior ability and a very able debater. His logic may 
not have been quite as sharp-cornered as mine, but it 
was round and full ; and though he had not so great 
power of condensation, it taking him longer to elab- 
orate an argument, when he reached his conclusion 
it was sure to be irresistible, if he had the right side 
of the question. 

I found my opponents had made elaborate prepara- 
tion, and had come prepared to discuss, not only 
the main but all side issues. As the debate took the 
same general course as in the first discussion but lit- 
tle need be reported here beyond a few new points. 

"When we bore down on the pro-slavery character 
of the Church Mr. Kingsley defended her on the 
ground that she occupied an apostolic position, that 
slavery existed in the apostolic Church, under the 
eyes of Peter and Paul, In proof of this he quoted 



The Second Debate. 



265 



certain scriptures, and, being a scliolar, lie read from 
Roman history in Latin and translated it as he read. 
This was to prove that slavery existed in the Roman 
empire in the time of Paul and Peter. It was insist- 
ed that this must determine the meaning of those 
scriptures which appear to refer to slavery. This ar- 
gument occupied more than thirty minutes, and I 
made no reply to it until it was finished. I then re- 
plied upon two grounds : 

1. Paul gave authoritative directions which would 
have extirpated slavery if it existed in the Church. 

2. The question is not, Did slavery exist in the 
apostolic Church ? nor Is slavery right or wrong as it 
exists in the Methodist Episcopal Church ? but Does 
the Methodist Episcopal Church justify slavery ? My 
opponent, in trying to prove that slavery in the Church 
has apostolic sanction, virtually admits that the Church 
does justify it, and thus he gives up the argument. 
He may take which horn of the dilemma he pleases : 
he may say the Church does justify slavery, and 
thereby concede the question ; or he may persist in 
denying that the Church justifies slavery, and there- 
by admit that the Church condemns what he claims 
to have proved Paul and Peter justified. 

My reply was like the explosion of a shell in the 
center of their citadel, and they could do but little 
more than to defend the position of the Church, rather 
than proving that she does not justify slavery, which 
the question required them to do. 



266 AuTOBioGKAniY OF Rev. LuTiiioii Lee. 

They often became personal in the latter part of 
the debate, and often resorted to ridicule. While I 
never made such attacks I did not intend to allow my 
opponents to make any capital out them at my ex- 
pense, and often repelled them with a severe repartee, 
one instance of which I will give. If it amuses the 
reader as much as it did the audience it will pay. 
These sallies were most frequently made by Mr. Gra- 
ham, who prided himself upon his logic and his wit. 
He attacked one of the best arguments of my Brother 
Smith, ridiculed it, and finally said he could not see 
w^hat his opponent put forth such an argument for, 
unless it was as a cabbage-leaf that he might stick his 
head under it and get out of sight. 

Brother Smith was a native Yirginian, with a very 
large head, covered with a profusion of gray hair, 
standing up endwise. I replied by calling attention to 
the fact that ridicule is not argument, and that good 
debaters never resort to it while they have good argu- 
ments to offer. I then quoted Mr. Graham's words 
and, pointing to Smith, said, " Those gray hairs are 
not so dishonorable as to need covering with a cab- 
bage-leaf, and it may be doubted if cabbage-leaves 
grow large enough in this north country to cover that 
great head ; " and then, pointing to Graham, said, 
" A cabbage-leaf might cover the head of my friend 
on the other side, for nothing can be more in accord- 
ance with nature than that a cabbage-leaf should be 
fitted in size to the head upon which it grows." 



The Secoxd Debate. 



267 



Professor Kingslej, who appeared to enjoy the sally, 
picked up a book and commenced measuring Graham's 
head. The assembly was convulsed. 

This second debate was continued through three 
days and three evenings. The hard-fought battle was 
ended, and of the result I need only say, that I or- 
ganized a "Wesleyan Chuixh, into which nearly all the 
members of the Methodist Episcopal Church entered 
— I believe all the male members except one. Two of 
my opponents I have never seen since. They have both 
been some time dead. I met Professor Kingsley aft- 
erward, and we became warm friends. He became a 
strong antislavery member of the General Conference, 
and was elected Bishop. He has gone to his reward, 
and I yet linger upon earth. 



208 AUTOBIOGBAPHY OF EeV. LutHEK LeE. 



CHAPTEE XXXIL 

The First Session of the New York Conference — An Om- 
nium Gatheru.m— Elected. President — Appointed Confer- 
ence Missionary — Elected, a Delegate to the General Con- 
ference. 

THE Conference was organized upon paper at the 
Utica convention, and I was appointed provis- 
ional president, to act until the Conference should 
hold its first session and elect a president. The place 
determined npon was Syracuse, and was in the spring 
of 1844. My provisional presidency imposed upon 
me the duty of presiding until the Conference could 
come to a vote and elect a president, which was not 
so easily done as might be supposed. At the time 
and place appointed for the Conference there was a 
gathering, but it was an omnium gatherum. There 
were a few persons who were undoubtedly entitled 
to seats, and who had sufficient experience to do 
business orderly and correctly ; but a large number 
were persons who had been roused by the new move- 
ment and jumped upon the moving car to be carried 
into a position of prosperity and fame they knew not 
where nor how. They had no knowledge of confer- 
ence matters, and they came to teach, and could talk, 
and thought they were Solons or Solomons of a new 
and great Church. We had no reliable record to 



FmsT Sessioit of New Yoek Confeeence. 269 

appeal to. It was found that the list of preachers 
and appointments derived from the XJtica convention 
could not be depended upon. There were some 
worthy preachers and reliable charges in that list, but 
others were mere myths. The whole thing had to be 
sifted, and finally a roll was made out, the best we 
could do. The Conference went into an election, 
and I was elected president. I was also elected a 
delegate to the General Conference. 

The Conference proceeded with its business ; some 
were received on trial and some were elected to 
elders' orders and ordained. A committee elected by 
the Conference, of which I was chairman by virtue 
of my office as president, made the appointments for the 
year. My case was disposed of by the Conference, 
which appointed me by vote a Conference missionary, 
to travel at large and preach and lecture and organize 
Churches. The work being accomplished, the Con- 
ference adjourned, and each man went his way. My 
mission required that I should have a horse and car- 
riage, and as soon as I could purchase I was in the 
field. 

"When autumn approached I made my arrange- 
ments to attend the General Conference, which was 
to assemble at Cleveland, Ohio, the first of October. 
My father-in-law years before had removed to Ohio, 
and on visiting the East the fall before took w^ith 
him my second son, a lad in his fourteenth year, with 
the understanding that we should visit them and 



270 AuTOBioGKAPiiY OF Eev. Luther Lee. 

bring liim home at the time of the General Confer- 
ence. In accordance with this plan I started with 
my wife to make a lecturing and missionary tour in 
the western part of the State, and at the right time 
cross Pennsylvania into Ohio and make our visit and 
attend the General Conference. In prosecuting this 
plan we reached Jamestow^n, my old battle-ground, 
w^here we were intercepted by a letter informing us 
of the death of our son in Ohio. It was a severe 
blow, but we had both learned and confessed before 
this that God reigns and governs all things well. 
After spending a short time with sympathizing 
friends in Jamestown, we passed on and made our 
visit, and attended the General Conference. 



FiEST Wesleyan Gekeeal Confeeence. 271 



CHAPTEK XXXIIL 



The First "Wesleyan General Conference— Elected President 
— Tlie Secret-society Question — On tlie Verge of an Explo- 
sion — Elected Editor — Homeward Bound — A Terrible Storm. 



THEN the General Conference assembled. Orange 



f f Scott was elected president on the first ballot, 
but declined. On a second ballot I was elected. I 
expected a stormy time, yet I accepted and took the 
chair, and the Conference proceeded to business. 
"While appointing the standing committees a motion 
was made to appoint a committee on secret societies. 
This waked np the disturbing element which came so 
near breaking us up in the TJtica convention. I 
dreaded it as much as I would a tornado, and I soon 
found I had one on hand. It was not yet known 
where I stood, which, I believe, was fortunate, other- 
wise I do not believe I could have held the Confer- 
ence in the struggle. The committee was ordered 
amid much excitement, and the vote indicated that 
the anti-secret society men had a small majority. 

The committee in due time reported a rule exclud- 
ing the members of all secret societies from the Church. 
It was urged by Smith, Walker, and others, and op- 
posed by Scott, Horton, and others. Scott and Horton 
were cool debaters, but Smith was all fire and flame 




272 AuTOBioGKAPHY OF Eey. Lutiiek Lee. 

on tins subject. Had tlie question been on tlie admis- 
sion of the devil into the Clmrch he could not have 
been more furious. Pie could not wait to reply to 
Scott's arguments ; he denounced them and the man 
that advanced them, and I had to call him to order. 
This only roused the lion in him still more, and, look- 
ing terribly at me, he declared he would not come to 
order ; and I do not know but some of the timid ones 
expected to see me swallowed whole, as he was a 
very large and powerful man. I faced him sternly 
and said, " You will come to order if there's power 
enough in this house to bring you to order." This 
brought a crisis, for a large portion of the house rose 
to their feet and affirmed, " The chair shall be sus- 
tained." 

Brother Smith cooled down and said, " I will come 
to order, and if the chair will overlook my offense 
and allow me to proceed, I will proceed in order." 
I replied, " The member from Pittsburgh can pro- 
ceed in order," and Mr. Smith proceeded with his argu- 
ment, for he was now cool enough to argue the case. 
The rule against secret societies w^as adopted after 
a hard struggle, and went into the Discipline as law. 
It cost the connection thousands of members, and 
shut the "Wesleyans out of many places where they 
might otherwise have collected good Churches. 

The Conference adopted the "True Wesleyan" as 
its organ, and ordered it moved from Boston to New 
York, and provided for a Book Concern, and elected 



First Wesleyan General Conference. 273 

Brother Scott Book Agent, and elected me editor of 
the "True Wesleyan" and also editor of the "Juve- 
nile "Wesleyan," a monthly Sunday-school paper, which 
it ordered published. I was also required to edit all 
Sunday-school books. So I had work enough laid 
out for me if much was to be done. 

There were some other changes made in the Disci- 
■plme, but nothing very essential. When the Confer- 
ence adjourned Mrs. Lee and I started for home as 
we came. We reached a point in Ashtabula County, 
Ohio, on Saturday, where we spent a Sabbath on our 
way out and put up for the Lord's rest. When Mon- 
day morning came I changed my plan. 

It was getting late in autumn, and I was anxious 
to get home, with a view of getting to my new post 
of labor and responsibility, where I was needed. As 
I was to remove from Syracuse to the City of ISTew 
York, my horse and buggy had to be disposed of, 
and so I concluded to sell out there, and take a boat 
to Buffalo. We went to Fair Haven, to take a boat, 
but the wind was so high and the lake so rough that 
no boats came into that place. We could see them 
pass at a distance, but none dared to make that land- 
ing. After waiting until patience was exhausted in 
that direction, we took the stage, and that night we 
had the most terrible blow that ever visited the 
lakes. We were in the stage all night, and it was 
fearful; we were afraid the wind would blow the 

stage over. It was very dark, and was literally a 
18 



274 Autobiography of Kev. Luther Lee. 

niglit of terror; and yet we thanked God that we 
were not on the lake, as we had tried hard to be. 
"When the day began to dawn, as we approached the 
city of Erie, the effects of the storm became visible, 
and could be seen on both sides of the v/ay. The 
presidential issue was pending between Polk and 
Clay, and the Democrats had erected hickory poles, 
and the Whigs had erected ash poles. All along the 
way the hickory had withstood the storm, but the 
ash poles were all blown down, usually broken near 
the ground, and lay prostrate. This was regarded 
by the Democrats as an omen of success, and the re- 
sult accorded with their desires. 

As we approached Buffalo more fearful effects of 
the storm were visible. Wrecked vessels were seen 
scattered along the shore, and in the city, bordering 
on the lake, the destruction was terrible. The storm 
drove down the lake, and so violent was it that it 
flooded portions of the city, and houses had been 
broken to pieces by the waves, and vessels were seen 
lying perfectly dry, many rods from the docks, up 
business streets. 'No vessels out had escaped undam- 
aged, and many vessels and lives had been lost. We 
v\^ere thankful that we did not succeed in obtaining a 
passage on the lake, though we had a night of terror 
on the land. 

From Buffalo we made a quick passage home, and 
every energy was exerted to get moved to our new 
field of labor and responsibility. 



FiEST FouE Yeaes of my Editorship. 275 



CHAPTEE XXXIV. 

Trie First Four Years of my Editorship— Diffieu.lties in my 
Way — Abundant Labors — Eulogy on Orange Seott. 

THE editorship of onr connectional paper involved 
serious responsibilities and great difficulties. The 
connection might be said to be a unit on the subject 
of slavery ; but it was greatly divided and heteroge- 
neous in regard to other subjects, and it was doubtful 
if it could be held together. We had many good 
and true men who could be relied upon for any thing 
reasonable, but we also had many restless, imprac- 
ticable men, and some of them were strong men, and 
others very weak men, and it was doubtful which 
were the most dangerous to our unity and success. 
The question of Church government was settled in 
the " Disciphne," but not in the minds of the people. 
Some wanted a strong government and an absolute 
appointing power to assign the preachers to their 
fields of labor from year to year. Others were op- 
posed to all control, and wished to be left free to 
select their own fields of labor, as they could agree 
with people. I leaned to the liberal side, but not 
to the extreme. I understood perfectly well what 
many did not appear to realize, namely, that neither 
extreme could be adopted and carried out. I knew 
we had not enough connectional adhesive power 



276 AuTOBioaEAPHY OF Eey. Luther Lee. 

to hold us together nnder a strong absolute ap- 
pointing power ; many ministers and many Churches 
would not submit to it. On the other hand, our 
ministers and people, as a whole, had not sufficient 
stability, union, and experience to manage, success- 
fully, an extremely liberal system of Church polity, 
and the only hope was to run on a middle line be- 
tween the two extremes ; and that was no easy task 
for the helmsman with such rocks on both sides, 
with winds blowing both ways. 

The secret-society question was of all others most 
exciting, and for a time cost me more trouble than 
any other ; and but for the fact that neither side 
could count me among the jpros or cons^ I could not 
have held things together. I dared not let one side 
know what the other side said, or wished to say ; and 
while the paper assumed to maintain free discussion, 
I published only rather temperate articles, while I 
burned up numbers of violent ones, not daring to let 
their contents be seen, and of the contents of which 
I have never told a friend to this day. In all such 
cases I wrote private appeals to the parties whose 
articles I did not publish, exerting all the skill and 
influence I had to calm them down and persuade 
them that it was best for the whole that their articles 
should not be published. It was a difficult matter, 
but I had been placed at the helm, and was deter- 
mined to run our new ship clear of the rocks on both 
sides. Things gradually softened down ; some of the 



Difficulties in my Way. 



277 



more violent ones left, and others were modified, and 
the connection acquired more adhesive power as it 
grew older. 

During my editorial career I had also to maintain 
a fight against common foes ; for we were assailed 
on every side, and for some time we were made the 
target for all the political and ecclesiastical marksmen 
to shoot at, from popguns to the heaviest ordnance, 
and the " True "Wesleyan," with its editor, was the 
center spot to aim at. Odds v/ere against me, but I 
believed my cause to be just. I had large experience 
in controversy, and I defended myself and the con- 
nection as best I could, but with what skill I will not 
attempt to say ; those who lived then, and were inter- 
ested, must judge, if any such are still living. The 
battle of those times cannot be fully appreciated now, 
since the exciting waves of more than thirty-six years 
have swept the space which lies between this time 
and that. If my record of those first years of my 
editorial career could be placed before the public 
and read again, it would reveal two facts at least, 
namiely, that I was not cowardly, and that I was 
not lazy. 

I edited without any assistance two papers, the 
weekly " "Wesleyan," and the semi-monthly " Juve- 
nile Wesleyan," a Sunday-school paper. I preached 
or lectured nearly every Sabbath, and made frequent 
dashes off into the country, to lecture on slavery and 
temperance. I also took part in other leading dis- 



278 Autobiography of Key. Luther Lee. 

cnssions of those times, among wliich was that waked 
up by the AdYentists, who began to contend for the 
seYenth day as the Sabbath, and to deny the immor- 
tality of the soul. I wrote and published a " Treatise 
on the Immortality of the Soul/' which was a pioneer 
work on the subject, ScYcral works haYC since been 
written on the subject. Those years, as I look back 
to them, appear Y/ith the YiYidness, and almost like 
the impressions left by a troubled dream. So much 
had I to do, so intensely was my mind engaged, and 
so much solicitude did I feel, that I took but little 
note of the lapse of time. !N"eYertheless, time j)ur- 
sued its rapid course, and the first four years of my 
editorial career were brought to a close in the fall 
of 1848. 

One great source of mental trouble was the failing 
health of Brother Scott. He Y^as the publishing 
agent and sole financial manager of the Concern, and 
it appeared to me it would be extremely difficult, if 
not impossible, to run the newly-organized Concern 
without him, and yet he was obYiously failing, grad- 
ually wasting with consumption. He went lower 
and lower, until he was confined to his room, when 
his death became only a question of time with me, 
though he seemed to cling to hope. The blow finally 
fell ; he died, and I felt it as one of the most seYcre 
calamities of my life. I preached and published his 
funeral sermon, from which I giYe the following 
extract : 



Eulogy on Oeange Scott. 



279 



Orauge Scott was an extraordinary man. During his 
sunny days in the Methodist Episcopal Church few were 
more popular, and none led on the embattled hosts of Meth- 
odism against their common foes with a bolder front, and to 
more certain victory, than did Orange Scott. Some had more 
scholastic polish, and some blew more silver-toned instru- 
ments; but his was the trump of God soundiug the notes of 
uncompromising truth, and at the well-known sound more 
were rallied from the valleys and hills and rocky cliffs of 
Kew England than by the notes of any other trumpeter that 
ever yet passed that way. He died without a struggle ; he 
departed as departs the sun when it goes down without a 
cloud, leaving a lingeriug glory upon the hills in evidence 
that it has not expired or lost its light, but is a sun still, 
traveling in its glory, though visible only to other spheres. 
He left us as leaves the morning star when it melts away 
and is lost amid the beams of the solar orb. 



280 AuTOBioGKAPiiY OF Kev. Lutiiee Lee. 



CHAPTER XXXV. 

Second General Conference— Re-elected. Editor with some 
opposition— Resigned in the Spring of 1852, and accept- 
ed the Pastorate of my old Church in Syracuse. 

THE second General Conference was held in the 
city of New York, in the autumn of 1848. It 
was, on the whole, a quiet Conference. Daniel Worth 
was elected president, and L. C. Matlack was elected 
secretary. I was elected chairman of the Committee 
on Revisals. 

I introduced some changes in regard to the ap- 
pointing power, and the corresponding rights and 
powers of preachers and Churches. These amend- 
ments were not intended to change any thing funda- 
mentally, but only to simplify and make the law 
and practices harmonize, which they did not. There 
had been also a difference of opinion in regard to the 
meaning of the rules in question, which I intended 
to obviate. My amendments were adopted by the 
Conference, but met with determined opposition dur- 
ing the next four years from Rev. Edward Smith 
and some others who followed his lead, and there 
arose a party who opposed the new edition of the 
rules. It was charged that a blow at the itinerancy 
had been struck. There was some warm discussion, 
and the matter was carried into the next General 



The Second Geneeal Confeeence. 281 

Conference to be settled, as will be noticed in its 
chronological order. 

There was one other matter which constituted an 
item in the Conference. In all such bodies, great or 
small, there will be persons who will seek for a place, 
though it be a small place. There were some mem- 
bers who believed they could edit the " True Wes- 
leyan " more to their own satisfaction than I did, and 
there were as many as three of this class, if not more. 

Just before the election of the editor was entered 
upon a resolution was introduced censuring the ed- 
itor of the " Wesleyan " for the course he had pur- 
sued in regard to politics. I never had any politics 
which were not a part of my religion, and I had 
urged men to vote the Liberty ticket as a religious 
duty. My friends and my enemies, if I had any, I 
suppose, were astonished that I declined saying a 
word in self-defense. Finally Brother M'Gee, from 
Wisconsin, formerly of Northern ITew York, took 
the floor in defense of the editor, and the way he 
laid out these non-political Christians was workman- 
like. I thought myself a good debater on politics in 
those days, but I was willing to yield him the palm. 
The resolution of censure was voted down. 

When the election of editor came ofi I was elected 
on the first ballot. I thought that those who wanted 
the place did not know what it cost me in toil and 
mental anxiety, and I resolved I would never allow 
myself again to be a candidate, and told a friend so. 



282 AUTOBIOGEAPHY OF ReY. LuTHEE LeE. 

I labored on as I liad done in time past, devoting 
all my energies to tlie interests of the paper and the 
Wesleyan cause. I responded to various calls from 
different localities to lecture on antislavery and tem- 
perance, and in defense of the Wesleyan organiza- 
tion. 

In the spring of 1852 I resigned my position as 
editor to accept a pastorate. I was invited to take 
charge of the Church in Syracuse, which I had or- 
ganized nine years before. As their Conference as- 
sembled in the spring, to step into their pastorate at 
the right time I had to vacate the editorial chair 
about five months before the close of my term, and 
the Eev. L. C. Matlack, who was publishing agent, 
took my place, and I hastened away to my new field 
of labor. 



The Thikd General Conference. 



283 



CHAPTEE XXXYI. 

In Syracuse— Tiie Third General Conference— A Challenge 
—A Debate on the Doctrine of the Trinity. 

OjST entering upon my pastoral labors among my 
old friends in Syracuse I felt the great cliange. 
Tlioiigli I never made a pastoral charge a play- 
ground, nor a resting-place to lounge and loll in the 
shade, the transition from the solicitude and the 
early and late office labors and nervous nights was so 
great that for a few weeks I felt as though I was on 
a vacation and must return to my toil. 

The third Wesleyan General Conference assembled 
in Syracuse in October, 1852. There was but little 
transacted which constitutes a part of my biography, 
except the discussion and action on the amended 
rules, which I introduced as chairman of the Com- 
mittee on Eevisals, referred to in the preceding 
chapter. 

Two parties now existed, and the matter had been 
discussed in the paper, and it was well understood 
that the subject would come up for action in the 
General Conference. The most important part I 
acted in it was a newspaper feat just on the eve of 
Conference, in reply to a very remarkable article. 

Sev. Edward Smith had become an advocate of 



281 AuTOBioGFvAriiY OF Hey. Luthee Lee. 

an absolute appointing power, which appeared to ex- 
clude laymen from all right to any voice in the mat- 
ter. I knew that to adopt and carry out his views 
would break up the Wesleyan Connection, for which 
I was not ready, and I opposed him. He undertook 
a stroke of policy by writing a long article entitled, 
" The Priesthood of Kevealed Eeligion," which he 
intended should settle the question. This he sent to 
the ''"Wesleyan" on the eve of the General Confer- 
ence, presuming no reply could be made through the 
paper until after Conference. The " Wesleyan " was 
published in the city of New York, and I was in 
Syracuse ; of course, it was not supposed that I could 
receive the paper, then write a reply, and get it to 
'New York soon enough to have it put in type in 
season to appear in the next paper. 

The moment the editor received Smith's manu 
script he wrote to me to secure my attention, and 
have me at home to attend to business. He put 
Smith's article on the page which was first set up, 
and sent me what printers call " galley slips " as fast 
as it was set up. The article filled nearly a page of 
the paper. The moment I got the first slip I com- 
menced writing a reply, and as fast as a sheet was 
finished I sent it away, so that my reply was written 
by the time Smith's article was issued from the press. 
As fast as my sheets were received at the ofiice they 
were given to the printer, and were all in type in 
season for the inside of the next issue, so that my 



The Thied General Cooterence. 285 

reply, wliicli filled a page, followed Smith's " Priest- 
hood of Eevealed Eeligion " in the next paper. Of 
the merits of the two papers I need not speak. 

The two parties rallied in the Conference, and 
after skirmishing to save time, it was agreed that 
Smith should have a hearing, and that I should re- 
ply, and that the question should be put without 
further debate. A decided majority voted on the 
liberal side, and Brother Smith never made any more 
public fight on the subject. 

A class of persons in those days were in the habit 
of holding imion conventions in the interest of the 
overthrow of all denominational distinctions and all 
creeds. One of these conventions was held in Syra- 
cuse, and I went in to see and hear and learn what 
could be said against Church organizations and 
creeds. 

The Eev. Samuel J. May, a distinguished Unita- 
rian minister, and pastor of the Unitarian Church in 
Syracuse, was also present. Mr. May got into a dis- 
cussion about creeds with a lay member of the Con- 
gregational Church, a particular friend of mine, and 
I put in a word which led to a slight pass between 
Mr. May and myself, and I thought nothing more of 
it. A week or ten days after I received a challenge 
from Mr. May to discuss the doctrine of the trinity 
with him. I accepted, and we debated eleven even- 
ings in the City Hall, each speaking thirty minutes, 
and making two speeches of an evening on each side. 



2S6 AUTOBIOGKAPHY OF EeV. LuTHER LeE. 



Mr. May was a remarkable man, not so miicli for 
his profound erudition, as for liis gentlemanly bear- 
ing and benevolence. He was better known in tlie 
city than I was, but I offset his prestige by a frank, 
open, honest, and earnest manner. 

The large hall was densely crowded every evening 
with the most learned and pious people in the city. 
So intense was the interest felt that the principal 
pastors of the city were at my house every day dur- 
ing the discussion, to inquire after my health, and to 
tender any help they could render in the hasty prep- 
aration of my rejoinders to his replies. My direct 
arguments I had carefully prepared in advance. The 
question was stated in the words of the first article of 
all Methodist creeds, as follows : 

There is but one living and true God, everlasting, of in- 
finite power, wisdom and goodness, the maker and preserver 
of all tilings, visible and invisible. And in unity of this God- 
head there are three persons, of one substance, power, and 
eternity, the Father, the Son, [the Word,] and the Holy 
Ghost. 

I had the affirmative, and must open the debate. 
After a brief introduction I stated my plan of argu- 
ment as follows : 

The first part of this article I understand is admitted by 
both parties to the discussion. The second part, commencing 
with the affirmation that " there are three persons in unity of 
the Godhead," is the real question in debate. Of this I have 
the affirmative, and my friend the negative. As I have the 
case to^make out, I shall attempt to prove: 



Debate ox the Teinity. 287 

1. The essential, underived divinity of our Lord Jesus 
Christ— the Son or the Word. 

2. The divinity of the Holy Ghost, and his personality. 

3. The unity of the two with the Father, in the Godhead. 

The course I pnrsued was to open each speech after 
the first with a brief rejoinder to his reply, and then 
prosecute the direct argument to the end of my half 
hour. By this course I kept my argument clear and 
distinct before the audience until it was finished, 
closing in, closer and closer, upon my opponent as I 
progressed. When I reached the end my summing 
up was brief, logical, and beyond the reach of an 
answer, as it was too late for my opponent to go back 
and attempt to refute my arguments upon which my 
conclusions rested. This he had failed to do as they 
were delivered, but had rather sought to amuse him- 
self with his own objections to, and caricatures on, 
the doctrine of the Trinity, which I brushed from my 
path as I proceeded ; and now I wound my chain of 
argument around him after this manner : 

1. I have proved that the Son or Word is God, 
to him being applied all the names and titles of God, 
and he possessing all the attributes of God, perform- 
ing all the works of God, and receiving the worship 
due only to God. 

2. I have proved that the Holy Ghost is God, be- 
ing known by the names and titles of God, possessing 
all the attributes of God, and being manifested in all 
the personal acts of God. 



238 Autobiography of Rev. Luther Lee, 

From these two points proved, it follows that they 
exist in union with the Father, making the doctrine 
of the Trinity true, or else that there are three 
Gods. 

But there are not, and cannot be three Gods. 

1. Both parties to this discussion affirm that "there 
is but one living and true God." 

2. The Scriptures teach that there is but one God. 

3. The conclusion that the Son and Holy Ghost, 
both being proved to be God, exist with the Father 
in the unity of the Godhead, is not only a necessary 
conclusion from the premises, but I have proved the 
doctrine of the Trinity by arguments which my op- 
ponent neither has answered nor can answer. 

The arguments by which the points here affirmed 
were proved are not given, as a matter of course. 
'Nov have I given my rejoinders to his replies, so far 
as he ofiered any. These would fill a volume. I 
will only add that the discussion resulted satisfactorily 
to all Trinitarians. My opponent, under the heavy 
pressure of my arguments, denied the pre-existence 
of Christ, denied his miraculous conception, and af- 
firmed that he was the natural son of Joseph and 
Mary. When further pressed he denied the genuine- 
ness of the accounts of his conception and birth, and 
affirmed that they were forgeries, interpolated long 
after the Gospels were written. He had every ap- 
pearance of honesty and candor in the opening of the 
discussion, and I believe he thought he had the right 



Debate oit the Trinity. 



289 



side of the question, and expected to be able to tri- 
iimpliantly defend his views and overthrow what he 
regarded as the absurdities of Trinitarianism. It 
appeared to me that he had been educated a Unitari- 
an, and taught from his youth to beheve that Trini- 
tarianism was a concatenation of impossibihties, ab- 
surdities, and contradictions, which he had only to 
touch with his wand of reason to see the whole sys- 
tem fall to pieces. He appeared not to understand 
Trinitarianism, and to have no conception of the 
chain of iron-linked logic by which it could be de- 
fended. "When he came to face an opponent quite as 
experienced in debate as himself, and who had thor- 
oughly studied both sides of the question, he found 
the discussion any thing but the pleasant recreation 
he had anticipated, and was driven to positions he 
little thought of when he commenced the debate. He 
departed this life some years since, and I cannot tarry 
many years longer before I must cross over, when we 
may meet again, unless one of us shall have missed 
our way and fatally wandered from the path which 
leads to the destiny for which the Creator designed 

all me 
19 



290 AUTOBIOGEAPHY OF E.EV. LuTIIEE LeE. 



CHAPTEK XXXVII. 



Invited, to Fulton— Publislied my Book entitled, Elements 
of Theology "—Elected Professor of Theology in Leoni 
College— Fou-rtii General Conference— My Resignation of 
the Professorship. 



T the close of my three-years' labor in Syracuse 



I was invited to the pastorate of the Wesleyan 
Church in Fnlton in the spring of 1855. This had 
been my last charge in the Methodist Episcopal 
Church, and now I returned as a Wesleyan pas- 
tor of a "Wesleyan Church, after the absence of nearly 
seventeen years. Time had produced great changes 
both in myself and my old friends whom I left in 
the Methodist Episcopal Church. In my absence a 
Wesleyan Church had been organized, and a house 
of worship erected, and they appeared to be in a 
reasonably flourishing condition. 

It was believed, both by myself and the Church, 
that my pastorate with them would be a long one, if 
not the closing one of my life ; but, alas ! how little we 
know what the future has in store for us ! My pas- 
torate lasted only one year, but was one of the most 
quiet and enjoyable years of my shifting and stormy 
life. During my three years in Syracuse, and the 
first haK of my year in Fulton, I had written my 
work entitled "Elements of Theology," and had it 




Elected Professou of Theology. 291 

ready for the press, but had no means to publish it. 
On the recommendation of Rev. L. C. Matlack, now 
Dr. Matlack, C. G. Case, Esq., a layman of my 
Church, advanced one thousand dollars to aid in pub- 
lishing the work. I say on the recommendation of 
Brother Matlack, for I should never have asked for 
the money if my manuscript had lain unpublished to 
the close of my life. 

As the close of my first year at Fulton was ap- 
proaching I was surprised beyond measure by the 
visit of Eev. S. A. Baker, agent of the Leoni College, 
in Michigan, who said he was sent to engage my 
services as Professor of Theology. It surprised me, 
as they had never corresponded with me, and I had 
never thought of such a thing. I told him frankly 
I would not leave my people without their consent, 
and that I would not ask their consent, but that he 
might try and obtain their consent if he could. I 
did not believe he could, because I did not know 
his sldll, and what persuasive and honeyed words he 
could utter. He urged the wants of the college, the 
advantage it would be to our young and rising de- 
nomination to have a theological department in the col- 
lege, and what an advantage it would be to obtain my 
services, in view of the fact that I was the author of 
a system of theology which would be the text-book 
of the department. He finally promised to give me 
an acre of land, and put a good house upon it for a 
^permanent home. The result was he obtained the 



292 AUTOBIOGEAPHY OF EeV. LuTHEK LeE. 

following answer from Brother Case, who was onr 
principal man, and spoke for the Church : " We have 
always wanted to get Brother Lee since we organized 
our Wesleyan Church, but he was otherwise engaged, 
and when we secured him we intended to keep , him 
and take care of him, and those of us who should 
outlive him should bury him in our beautiful ceme- 
tery ; but we will not stand in the way of an impor- 
tant general interest; if the wants of the school are as 
you state, you must take him." 

Of course the matter was settled, and I was to re- 
move to Michigan after the session of the Conference, 
at which time the Church could obtain a pastor to take 
my place. I filled out the programme, and arrived 
in Leoni about the first of May, 1856. Things did 
not look very promising, but 1 was enlisted and must 
fight the battle as best I could. I found a warm- 
hearted class of friends connected with the school, 
good and true, ready to do all that could be done with 
the means they could command, and even more ; for 
some of them made great personal sacrifices to sustain 
the school. But still things looked unpromising to 
me, as though the undertaking was larger than re- 
sources would warrant. The acre of land was given 
and the house was erected, and we took possession. 
Public worship was maintained in the school build- 
ing used as a church on the Sabbath, and I was ap- 
pointed preacher. I could not very properly be called 
pastor, in view of my other engagement. A theolog- 



Eesignation of my Pkofessorship. 293 

ical class was organized, and I took charge of it. It 
embraced some promising young men, some of wliom 
are now successful preachers. I also taught a class in 
mental and moral science and another in history. 

The fourth "Wesleyan General Conference was held 
in Cleveland, Ohio, in October, 1856. I was elected 
president. Nothing occurred beyond regular busi- 
ness, and it proved a very quiet session. 

As we approached the autumn of 1867 I became 
satisfied that the college was becoming hopelessly in- 
volved financially. I told the trustees my fears, but 
they saw things differently. I was getting personally 
involved, but could yet clear myself by a sufficient 
sacrifice ; but if I remained another year I should be 
hopelessly in debt. My salary was unpaid, and I 
could not see how it was to be paid, and it never was 
paid. I sold my furniture to pay some debts I had 
contracted, and sold my house for as much as I had 
put in it from my own resources, leaving it so that by 
paying that amount the college could recover it. 
This gave me funds enough to remove me to some 
other field of labor, and I resigned and went to a new 
scene of labor and responsibility. 



294 AUTOBIOGEAPHY OF EeV. LuTHEE LeE. 



CHAPTEE XXXYIII. 

Remove to Felicity, Ohio— A Two Years' Pastorate— Re- 
move to Chagrin Falls — Oration on John Brown — Fifth 
General Conference— Appointed. Connectional Missionary 
—Very Sick and Resign— Another Pastorate— Elected Pro- 
fessor—Remove to Adrian, Mich.— Sixth and last General 
Conference. 

HAYING resigned my professorship at Leoni, I 
accepted of the pastorate of a Wesleyan Church 
at Felicity, Clermont County, Ohio. I commenced 
my labors in September, 1857, and served the Church 
two years. It was while I was in this pastorate that 
I was struck with the title of Doctor of Divinity. It 
came from Middlebury College, Yermont. All I can 
say about it is, that it came as a surprise to me, as I 
had no previous knowledge of any such intention, 
and had never asked for or had any expectation of 
any such honor, and did not know that any of my 
friends thought of or asked for any such favor on my 
behalf. 

There was nothing remarkable occurred during this 
pastorate except a little under-ground railroad work, 
which may be noted in a special chapter on that sub- 
ject. I closed my two years' labor in Felicity, Sep- 
tember, 1859, and removed to Chagrin Falls, Ohio. I 
preached here to a Wesleyan and Congregational 



Oeation on John Bkown. 



295 



Cliurch. who united in my support, and worshiped 
in one congregation. 

While here I preached and published a fnneral 
sermon for John Brown, whom brave old Virginia, 
who never tires, succeeded in hanging. He was 
buried in K"orth Elba, in north-eastern ISTew York, 
by the side of a rock under the shadow of the Adi- 
rondack Mountains. Wendell Phillips delivered an 
oration over his grave when he was buried. He had 
a little home in this wild region on a piece of land 
which had been given him by Grerrit Smith. On 
the 4:th of July, 1860, I was called from my home 
in Ohio to deliver an oration from the rock over- 
hanging John Brown's grave. That was the oration 
of my life, the most radical and, probably, the most 
able I ever delivered. I loaned the manuscript to a 
reporter present, who promised to return it, but I 
have never seen it since. 

The Brown family were all present, but I have not 
seen one of them since. As I came down from the 
rock at the close of the oration I shook hands with 
each of the family, and as I took the hand of the 
second son he said : " It electrifies my arm clear up 
to my shoulder and makes my heart jump to take 
hold of your hand." 

While at Chagrin Falls I was called to Adrian, 
Michigan, to deliver the oration at the laying of the 
corner-stone of the principal college building. 

The fifth General Conference assembled at Fulton, 



296 AuTOBioaKAPHY OF Eey. Luther Lee. 

N^. Y.5 in October, 1860, of wliicli I was a member. 
Rev. L. 0. Matlack was elected president. This was 
a qniet Conference, and bnt little transpired which 
can properly fill space in my personal history. One 
little tilt may be named, I had a slight passage at 
arms with some extremist on the snbject of dress. 
My position was, that we conld not frame specific 
rules which should determine just what persons should 
wear and should not wear. I insisted that the best 
results would be secured by enforcing plainness of 
dress on scriptural authority ; that legislating concern- 
ing the cut of coats and the number of buttons to 
be put upon them, or the size and shape of bonnets, 
and the length and breadth of ribbon with which they 
should be trimmed, could do no good. I said it must 
be allowable to wear gold in some cases. The Church 
required a minister to put a gold ring on the finger 
of a bride, and I could not see how it could be right 
for me to put gold on a lady's finger which it would 
be wrong for her to wear. I said I had never worn 
gold in any form, because I was too poor, but if some 
friend should present me with golden-bowed specta- 
cles I should wear them without committing sin. 
The next day I was invited to call on a friend, when 
I found a small party of friends in his parlor, one of 
whom, with an appropriate address, presented me 
with a pair of gold-bowed spectacles. This was 
twenty-one years ago, and those gold bows are worn 
out and I am using cheaper ones. 



Anothek Pastorate. 



297 



At this General Conference I was elected a general 
missionary to travel throngli tlie whole connection to 
preach, lecture, organize Churches, and promote its 
interests. I removed from Ohio, and located my 
family in Syracuse, Y., and entered upon my 
work with more zeal and energy than was prudent in 
the circumstances. It proved to be a very severe 
wdnter, and, in addition to other exposures, I lay out 
in the cars, under snow blockades, on different routes, 
five nights in all. I took one cold after another; 
still I kept on laboring, until I was compelled to desist, 
and returned home very sick on the first of March. 
Many of my friends thought I was near my end, but, 
by the blessing of God, I recovered. About the last 
of April I began to mend, and improved very rapid- 
ly. But I gave up all hope of being able to prosecute 
my mission, and resigned. 

The Syracuse Conference met the last of April, 
and I accepted of the pastorate of a very light charge 
at Sprague's Corners, on the line between Jefferson 
and St. LawTence Counties. The country was under 
great excitement with the opening scenes of the great 
Rebellion. This section of the country was very pa- 
triotic, and, it having been my old stumping-ground 
in my palmy days in the Methodist Episcopal Church, 
I w^as well known, and was called out for speeches at 
pole raisings and public meetings for raising troops 
for the war, and did what I could. 

I remained in this pastorate, in comparative seclu- 



29 S Autobiography of Eey. Luther Lee. 

sion, three years, and was resolved never again to ap- 
pear so prominently before the public as I bad done 
for tbe past thirty years of my active and stormy 
life. I was now in my sixtieth year, and took meas- 
ures to secure me a permanent home, with a view of 
spending and closing a peaceful end of life in this 
quiet and out-of-the-way place ; but my plan was over- 
ruled, and I was pushed out from my moorings, and 
I found myself again at sea. 

Ill the latter part of the winter of 1864 1 received a 
letter from the E-ev. Cyrus Prindle, and another from 
C. G. Case, of Fulton, urging me not to engage to 
serve my Church any longer than to the Conference 
in the spring, as a plan was put in motion to secure 
for me a theological professorship in Adrian College. 
Adrian College was a new Wesleyan institution of 
learning at Adrian, Mich. In due time I received 
official notice of my election. I accepted, and re- 
moved to Adrian in the spring of 1864. In the dis- 
charge of my new duties I organized a class in theol- 
ogy, of which I had exclusive charge, and taught the 
branches of theology and homiletics. I also organ- 
ized a class in natural theology. And to relieve the 
other professors, who were overtaxed, I took a class 
in both mental and moral science. 

In the autumn of 1864 the sixth Wesleyan General 
Conference was held in Adrian. This was the last I 
attended. I was again elected president, which placed 
me in the chair three times out of six. 



Embaeeassment of Adeian College. 299 



CHAPTEE XXXIX. 

Financial Embarrassnnent of the College— Proposed. Union 
with, the Protestant Methodists— Its Failure— The College 
changes hands — I Resign and. Return to the Methodist 
Episcopal Church. 

THE war and its results, with the change of the 
Methodist Ej)iscopal Church from a pro-slavery 
to an antislavery position, removed the principal rea- 
son for the Wesleyan Methodist organization. The 
Wesleyans lost their influence and progressive power, 
as other denominations became more and more anti- 
slavery, and from the commencement of the war they 
began to decline. The college was financially in- 
volved, and great efforts were made to relieve it with- 
out success. A proposition was made to unite with 
the Protestant Methodists as a mode of relief, and 
also as a measure of Christian union upon principle. 
This measure I did not favor in its early stages, not 
that I was opposed to such a union, but because my 
knowledge of the elements we had to deal with led 
me to believe such a union impossible, and I wanted 
no fuss and failure. Others pressed it until I saw 
there would be trouble, and then I went in for the 
union as a last hope, and pushed it with all the power 
and influence I had, believing success alone could save 
us from utter ruin. 



300 Autobiography of Eev. Luther Lee, 

In anticipation of the consummation of the union 
the Protestants were let into college in half interest 
under provisions \yhich promised legal consohdation, 
when the ecclesiastical union should be completed. 
The Protestants had a fund which they had raised 
for the purpose of founding a college, which they now 
held in reserve until the question of union should be 
settled. 

There now arose a terrible outcry by Wesleyans 
opposed to union, urging the fact that there were 
Masons in the Protestant Methodist Church, this 
making the proposed union as wicked as a union 
with hell. 

In a public convention they denounced the pro- 
posed union, and condemned the Board of Trustees 
for selling out the rights of the "Wesleyans in the col- 
lege to the Protestants. There was no truth in this ; 
we had sold nothing ; the college was on the verge of 
financial ruin, and must be lost, and we were trying 
to save one half of it at least. I was President of the 
Board of Trustees, and I did not bear the charge very 
meekly, as much as I had labored for the Wesleyans, 
for as poor pay as I had received, from men who had 
never given a dollar to the coUege and would not lift 
a finger to save it. I replied with deserved severity. 
I would have been glad to have retired from the 
w^hole concern, if those who were opposed to union 
would have taken the college upon their hands ; but 
they would not, and could not have done it if they 



Proposed Uniox with the Protestants. 301 

would ; it was upon us, and we determined to con- 
summate tlie union, and take as many with us as would 
go, whicli, of course, would carry tlie college into the 
union. 

Just at this point a plot was developed by a selfish 
Protestant connected with the college to secure con- 
trol, and make himself president by slander and false- 
hood directed against some of my friends. This plot 
was not directed at me, for I was not president, 
nor did I expect or wish to be ; but it was so false, 
corrupt, and vile, that I could not consent to co- 
operate with any person who would be guilty of such 
an act, and yet I had no redress but to back square 
out of the union, and this was the step I determined 
to take. 

In consultation with friends, whom I knew I could 
trust, I told them I was going to the Methodist Epis- 
coj)al Church, and if they would go with me w^e 
would make an effort to save the college by carrying 
it with us. The largest number consented. The 
Eev. John M'Eldowney, who was President of the 
Faculty, and myself, who was President of the Board 
of Trustees, called upon the Kev. F. A. Blades, who 
was presiding elder of the district, and laid the whole 
case and our plan before him. He received our 
proposition favorably, and promised to co-operate 
with us to the extent of his ability. We then went 
openly and earnestly to work. One half of the 
trustees were Wesleyans, all of whom were in sympa- 



802 AUTOEIOGHAPIIY OF EeV. LuTIIEIi LeE. 

tliy with our proposition. The other half of the 
trustees were citizens, and not Wesleyans. An ex- 
citing contest now arose between us Wesleyans and 
the Protestants. At first the citizen trustees rather 
stood aloof from taking a decisive part in the struggle, 
but when they saw that the Protestants had the money 
in hand, and offered to pay the debts of the college, 
if it were given over to them, they took sides with 
them. Still we held them at bay for a time, but as 
some of our trustees resided at a distance, even out of 
the State, it was difficult, and as we had not the 
means of securing the debts, and as the Protestants 
had the cash in hand, we could not hold out long, and 
finally resigned, and the college passed into the hands 
of the Protestants. 

N'otwithstanding I had been most active in the 
struggle and been their principal opposer, they wished 
to retain me in my professorship, and sent the Hon. 
L. Gr. Berry to me, as a committee from them, to in- 
quire if they could effect a reconciliation with me and 
retain me in the college. I frankly told him it was 
impossible for me to consent to remain with them. 
I might have retained my position in the college, 
and might, probably, have been comfortably seated 
in a professor's chair to-day, if I could have consented 
to act in harmony with those whom I believed to be 
false and dishonest. 

It was not the first time I had been compelled to 
turn away from what appeared to be for my worldly 



Return to the M. E. Church. 803 

advantage to preserve ray integrity, but it vras doubt- 
less the last time I shall be called upon to make such 
a sacrifice, as I am now too far advanced in hfe to be 
worth buying. 

It was early in the spring of 1867 when I with oth- 
ers resigned and left the college, and the Detroit 
Methodist Episcopal Annual Conference was not to 
hold its session until September. I might have been 
received at once by a Quarterly Conference, but my 
friend, Bishop Kingsley, said that course would be less 
direct, and might embarrass my reception into the 
Annual Conference, and advised me to wait until the 
meeting of that body, and bring the question before 
them, as that would render the case clear and simple. 
From that day I was regarded and treated as a minis- 
ter of the Methodist Episcopal Church. I was imme- 
diately employed as a supply for the Rev. W. H. 
Shine, of Port Huron, for eight Sabbaths, while he 
recreated his impaired health. 

I was then employed by the presiding elder to sup- 
ply the Frankhn Charge, whose preacher's health had 
failed, and he soon died. I labored on this charge 
until the meeting of the Conference, when I and 
others were received as ministers coming from the 
"Wesleyan Methodist Connection. I suppose, how- 
ever, there must have been an exception in my case. 
As I was one of the organizers of the Wesleyan Meth- 
odist Connection, and was in Methodist Episcopal 
orders at the time, I had no Wesleyan papers to pre- 



304 Autobiography of Eev. Luthek Lee. 

sent. I therefore sent in my parcliments, signed by 
Bishop Roberts and Bishop Soule, and my certificate 
of location, signed by Bishop Morris, dated 1838, 
showing that twenty-nine years had made their flight 
since I located. I suppose the paper was not regard- 
ed as outlawed, as I was received, and all my papers 
returned to me, and not a word was said. 



Keceptiox into the Detroit Confekence. 305 



CHAPTEE XL. 

My Reception into the Detroit Conference — My Return to 
the Methodist Episcopal Church Defended. 

I WAS received into the Detroit Annual Confer- 
ence of the Methodist Episcopal Church, at its 
session at Saginaw City, in September, 1867. There 
were six of us admitted at the same time. Our names 
being called, we advanced to the altar, when the 
Bishop asks the question, '^Will you conform to the 
Discipline and usages of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church?" This question being answered in the af- 
firmative, Rev. Mr. Blades, presiding elder of the 
Adrian District, introduced us to Conference, using 
in substance the following language : 

These are Wesleyan brethren, who have been ministers in 
the Wesleyan Connection, who are now to be received into 
the ministry of the Methodist Episcopal Church. It gives me 
great pleasure to introduce them to the Conference, and espe- 
cially does it give me pleasure to refer to one of them by name. 

Dr. Lee, who stands before you for admission to the Con- 
ference, comes to us for re-admission. He entered the minis- 
try of the Methodist Episcopal Church in early life, in which, 
he spent some of the best days of his manhood. His zeal, en- 
ergy, and success were known among the Churches, and gave 
him a name which has not been forgotten. But there arose a 
great question, on which he judged it his duty to leave the 
Church, believing that by so doing, he could more effectually 
oppose the monster evil which was subordinating Church and 
20 



806 AUTOBIOGEAPHY OF EeY. LuTHER LeF. 

State. He left honestly. He lias fought the battle bravely, 
ever being found in the thickest of the fight. He has fought 
until he has heard the shout of victory, and now that the 
battle is over, he returns to seek a home in the Church of his 
early choice. 

To be sure, he returns not as he left, in the full vigor of 
early manhood, but he comes bearing the impress of years, 
and with whitened locks, which have been bleached upon the 
moral battle-fields which he has so nobly contested; but he is 
yet strong and brave, and ready for service, and it gives me 
great pleasure to introduce him and his brethren, who stand 
here with him : and in the name of the Conference I bid them 
welcome. I hope Dr. Lee will speak a few words for himself 
and in behalf of his brethren. 

I made a few remarks under tlie influence of very 
great emotion, in whicli the whole congregation ap- 
peared to participate, for there were but few if any 
eyes in the house which did not weep. I closed my 
remarks by turning to the Bishop and offering my 
hand, saying : " Will you take my hand, in behalf of 
these mv brethren ? 

The Bishop rose and, taking my hand, he said: 
"Tes, I will take yom- hand and theirs too," and 
proceeded to give each of them the right hand of 
fellowship. 

As the shaking of hands was finished, the whole 
assembly rose to their feet and sang, "Praise God, 
from whom all blessings flow." 

My return to the Methodist Episcopal Church was 
condemned by old T^esleyan friends, who refused to 
go with me, and persisted in maintaining the "Wesley- 



Eeturk to the M. E. Chukch Defended. 307 

an organization. Tliey said hard things, and declared 
that I had stultified myself, and proved recreant to 
my principles. I do not know that any defense against 
these charges is necessary ; yet, as I have frankly given 
my reasons for leaving the Church, it is proper and 
consistent that I should give my reasons for returning 
to the Church I left I assign a general reason which 
comprehends the whole, when I say that I returned 
because the reason for which I left had ceased to 
exist. But I will be a little more specific. 

1. I left the Methodist Episcopal Church solely on 
account of slavery, and but for slavery I should never 
have thought of leaving her ; nor did I go back, nor 
talk nor think of going back, until she was entirely 
free from slavery. 

2. "When I left the Methodist Episcopal Church 
and assisted in organizing the Wesleyan Connection, 
I did not do it because I believed there were not 
Churches enough in number, but because I believed 
it was necessary to have one Church with which I 
could sympathize, and to which I could belong and 
co-operate ^viih a good conscience. This was doing 
the only thing I could do in the circumstances, for I 
never thought of living without a Church, and when 
I found slavery in the Methodist Episcopal Church, 
and could not get it out, the only thing I could do 
was to organize a Church without slavery, which I 
did. And in these circumstances it was consistent 
for me to do what I did. I supported the Wesleyan 



308 Autobiography of Key. Luthee Lee. 

organization with all my powers, and I opposed the 
pro-slaYery position and action of the Methodist Epis- 
copal Church with equal zeal and power, and no one 
man did more, and made better fight than I did. 

3. When slaYery ceased to exist in the Methodist 
Episcopal Church, the reason for the two separate 
organizations ceased to exist, and it was proper that 
they should be united, and it w^as most proper that 
the smaller body should go to the larger, and so I led 
the way back to the Methodist Episcopal Church. 
That the whole body did not go with me was not my 
fault. 

4. The Methodist Episcopal Church made such 
generous adYances and such honorable concessions in 
regard to our course as antislaYcry Methodists and as 
opposed to their former course, as remoYcd CYcry ob- 
jection, and enabled me to return without compro- 
mitting my principles, my honor, my consistency, or 
Y' ounding my Yery sensitiYe nature. I Y^alked back 
into the Methodist Episcopal Church as a long-absent 
son would walk into his reconciled mother's parlor, 
with whom he had differed in his youth, and sepa- 
rated himself. 

A few facts only need be giYon to justify the aboYe 
statement. The rules of the Church speak for them- 
selYCS, and show that the Church has become organ- 
ically antislaYcry in her constitutional law. But there 
has been other action. The General Conference has 
not only rescinded its own pro-slaYcry action of 1836 



Retukn to the M. E. Church Defended. 309 

and 1840, but taken a positive stand against slavery 
by adopting the following resolutions : 

Besolved, That we regard our national calamities as result- 
ing from our forgetfulness of God and slavery, so long our 
nation's reproach, and that it becomes us to humble ourselves 
and forsake our sins as a people, and hereafter in all our laws 
and acts to lienor God. 

Besolved^ That we are decidedly in favor of such an amend- 
ment to the Constitution, and such legislation on the part of 
the States, as shall prohibit slavery or involuntary servitude, 
except for crime, throughout all the States and Territories of 
the country. — Gen, Conf, Jour,^ p. 264, 1864. 

The official organs of the Church spoke in no un- 
certain language. The following items are sufficient : 

The Wesleyan body has existed to a noble purpose. It has 
borne its unwavering testimony against slavery, and we have 
felt its influence to be salutary upon our more temporizing 
tone. The world will be grateful to them for the work they 
have done, and the old Church has, in every possible form, 
shown her present oneness of spirit with this noble body of 
Christians. . . . We turn with pleasure to the thought of a 
union between ourselves and these our Wesleyan brethren. 
Should they come among us they will find themselves in con- 
genial associations. — Western Advocate, 

We would that, in accordance with the resolution of our 
Bishops, our centennial year could be marked by a reunion of 
the diflferent fragments of our American Methodism. Espe- 
cially would we rejoice in the return of that Church — the 
Wesley ans — who seceded from us rather than make conces- 
sions to the Southern slave power. We honor and love those 
men. Their secession, as we believe, saved our Church in 
1844 from accepting a slave-holding Bishop. They, honor- 
ably to themselves, left the Church for the Church's good. 
And for that same Church's good, we trust that they will re- 



310 Autobiography of Eey. Luthek Lee. 

turn with a full, triumphant welcome. — Methodist Quarterly 
Bemew, 

I will close this chapter with two brief remarks. 

1. The taunt which impracticables have often 
hurled at me, that the Methodist Episcopal Church 
did not free itself from slavery until it was abolished 
in the State, is without force, though there is some 
truth in it. The Church struggled manfully to free 
itself from slave-holding by a change of her organic 
law, which required time, so that it was not accom- 
plished until about the time of emancipation. While 
this is true, it is also true that the Methodist Epis- 
copal Church contributed more influence and moral 
power to secure emancipation than any other one 
Church or class of people. 

2. The decided and open and frank manner in 
which she has confessed her former wrong, and set 
herself right, proves her honesty and integrity in the 
matter. I am proud to belong to a Church which 
has had courage and moral strength enough thus to 
confess her wrong and set herself right. 



Latee Expekiences. 



311 



CHAPTEE XLI. 

Fourteen Years in the Methodist Episcopal Church smee 
my Return. 

I WAS appointed to Court-street Churcli on my 
reception into the Detroit Conference, where I 
spent two pleasant and prosperous years. I was then 
appointed to Ypsilanti, where I remained but one year. 
It was a heavy charge, and in the latter part of the 
w^inter I took a severe cold while attending a funeral, 
and was quite sick, but was out of the pulpit but one 
Sabbath ; yet I did not recover my usual health, and 
at the close of the year a change was desired, and I 
was sent to K'orthville. Here I labored in poor 
health, and at the end of the year I was placed upon 
the superannuated list. This was the severest trial 
of my life ; but as my health was poor, and I was in 
my seventy-first year, nothing else could be expected. 
The Conference, by resolution, requested me to 
preach a semi-centennial sermon at its next session, 
which I did at East Saginaw, where the Conference 
was held in 1872. 

In this sermon I remarked upon my antislavery 
efforts, and stated that I had been mobbed five times 
for opposing slavery, and that though I was never 
seriously injured, I had one new suit of clothes 



312 AUTOBIOGEAPHY OF EeY. LuTHER LeE. 

destroyed, for which the miscreants never paid me. 
The moment I closed my sermon Brother Arnold, 
now Dr. Arnold, sprang npon his feet, and said, " I 
move we pay Dr. Lee for that suit of clothes and it 
was no sooner said than done, and fifty dollars were 
contributed for my benefit. 

Soon after this Conference the Milford Charge be- 
came vacant, and at the request of both the people 
and presiding elder I undertook to supply tlie work. 
On the last of JSTovember I was taken sick of tj^phoid 
fever, and run very low, and it was thought my de- 
parture was at hand. I listened for the sound of the 
coming boatman's oar, but it pleased God that I 
should recover. My health so improved that at the 
Conference for 1874 I was again placed upon the 
eflEective list, and appointed to Petersburgh, and 
filled the appointment for the year, though 1 did not 
move my family to the charge. I found good and 
kind-hearted brethren and sisters in Petersburg!!, but 
as a charge they had been so reduced by deaths and 
removals, and other causes, that they were not able 
to give me such a support as would warrant me in 
removing my family from their comfortable home in 
ISTorthville, and I secured a home for myself, and de- 
voted myself to the work assigned me. 

The fiftieth anniversary of our wedding occurred 
on the 31st of July, and was duly celebrated by the 
kindness of the brethren at our home in IsTorthville. 
This anniversary, taken in all of its bearings, was one 



Later Expekiekces. 



313 



of tlie brightest spots in my life. I was poor and 
embarrassed, and without adequate means of meeting 
the l*eal necessities of life. I had come among the 
brethren a stranger, old and gray-headed, only eight 
years before, three of which I had been superannu- 
ated, and felt that I had but a very slight claim upon 
their generosity. They, however, displayed a great 
interest, and made it a complete success, and crowned 
the occasion with a donation of more than four hun- 
dred and fifty dollars. The occasion, too, was a very 
enjoyable one. The Eev. Dr. Jacokes was president 
of the day, and after calling the company to order 
from their real social intercourse, a prayer was of- 
fered by Dr. Pilcher, after which the chairman made 
a very appropriate and beautiful presentation ad- 
dress. 

Of course it was incumbent upon me to respond, 
which I did by reading the following poem : 

Welcome, kind friends, twice welcome here, 
We greet you all with hearty cheer, 

On this our nuptial day ; 
Long years have sped since we were wed, 
Bright hopes have fled, and white our head 

Has grown along our way. 

We then were young, but young grows old, 
So soon the tale of years is told. 

And life's short journey run ; 
Life then was bright, our path was light, 
In manhood's might began the fight 

Which now is almost won. 



314 AUTOBIOGEAPHY OF EeY. LuTHER LeE. 



As for myself, you see my plight, 
Time passed and left on me its blight, 

And rudely blew the blast ; 
With battered prow and furrowed brow, 
A withered bough you see me now, 

A shadow of the past. 

Behold my spouse, my bride once fair, 
With deep blue eye and auburn hair. 

So comely in her prime ; 
Faded you see, yet fair is she, 
And fair will ever be to me. 

Both in my eye and rhyme. 

No man could have more faithful wife 
To bless his home and cheer his life, 

And smooth his rugged way ; 
Ready to bear her equal share 
Of toil and care, with patience rare — 

Such is the bride to-day. 

Full fifty years, as groom and bride, 
Have we two traveled side by side. 

Where'er our journey lay ; 
Through sun and shade, forest and glade, 
Our mutual aid, our hearts have stayed, 

Through all the rugged way. 

Remembered joys, remembered sorrow, 
From departed years we borrow, 

All that is left of yore ; 
Joys have fled, hearts have bled. 
Friends are dead, since we were wed, 

And life seems life no more. 

The lingering charms of earth are few, 
As from our present stand we view 

Life past so soon away ; 
The withered flower, the vanished hour, 
The falling tower, the waving power, 

The mildew of decay. 



Later Experiences. 



Those years did fullest joy afford, 
When children smiled around our board, 

Five sons, two daughters fair ; 
But years have sped, those joys have fled, 
Our hearts have bled, three sons are dead, 

The living scattered — where ? 

Soft echoes from those happy years, 
Still breathe sweet music in our ears. 

Like chimes from far-off dome ; 
But cannot cheer life's autumn drear, 
Like voices clear we used to hear, 

When children caroled in our home. 

That music is an empty dream. 
Those echoes are not what they seem, 

This memory at its play 
No prattles here our home to cheer, 
But lone and drear we two appear, 

Still pressing on our way. 

Careworn and weary here we stand, 
United still in heart and hand. 

Despite the rugged past ; 
Naught can sever us forever. 
Part we never, long, forever. 

Our golden ties shall last. 

Our steps grow short, and well we know 
That soon our union here below 

In death will find its close ; 
But faith grows bright, and with delight 
We'll end the fight, and take our flight 

To realms of long repose. 

The joys of earth soon pass away. 
Its wealth and honor all decay — 

They perish in an hour ; 
Time takes its flight, but leaves its blight, 
Subdues all might, and conquers quite 

All terrestrial power. 



816 Autobiography of Eev. Luther Lee. 



All unions here must have an end. 
We all must lose or leave our friend, 

But friends shall meet again ; 
Where life shall thrill, death never chill, 
Where joy shall fill, our union still 

For evermore. Amen. 

Our golden wedding tells a tale— 
We celebrate low in the vale, 

Down on the misty shore ; 
Where the river, flowing ever, 
Two worlds sever, whence forever 

Those who cross return no more. 

Our golden wedding ! Since we wed, 
Long fifty married years have sped, 

And brought the day and guest ; 
The brightest day, in all the way, 
So blithe and gay, with golden ray, 

The day of all the rest. 

Kind friends, we thank you for this call, 
Deep in our hearts we thank you all, 

But words cannot reveal, 
Nor tongue can tell, though long it dwell, 
And heart shall swell, and tears shall well, 

The gratitude we feel. 

And absent friends have sent their store 
To swell your gifts and make them more ; 

To them our thanks are due ; 
0 were they here our hearts to cheer. 
That they might hear our thanks sincere 

Expressed to them and you ! 

With thanks which words can never tell 
Our hearts henceforth will ever swell 

And throb while life remains ; 
Immortal fire, intense desire. 
Shall string our lyre, which ne'er will tire 

Of fervent grateful strains 



Latee Expeeiences. 



317 



We all may meet on earth no more, 
But hope to meet on yonder shore, 

Beyond the tide of time ; 
Where homes secure ever endure. 
With water sure, from fountains pure, 

In that immortal clime. 

We linger on the strand awhile, 
Waiting the Master's coming smile, 

To light our passage o'er ; 
We'll drop the cross, we'll leave the dross, 
Nor count it loss, the river cross, 

To that eternal shore. 

There will we join the wedding throng, 
With angels sing the nuptial song. 

The song that dries all tears ; 
Immortal choir, with hearts on fire. 
With tongue and lyre, will never tire, 

Through the eternal years. 

Let us our garments all prepare, 
That we may be admitted there, 

Before the great I AM ; 
Nor be too late to celebrate, 
Within the gate, in royal state. 

The marriage of the Lamb. 

At the close of this year I was returned to the sii- 
perannnated list, not, I believe, because I had failed 
in my labors, for I preached twice every Sabbath, 
and was absent from my charge but two Sabbaths 
during the year. Of this no complaint was or could 
be made, as it was to pay a last visit to a dying son 
in Syracuse, JST. Y., who departed this life July 20, 
1875. He was our eldest son, and his death was se- 
verely felt by us all. 



318 Autobiography of Eey. Luther Lee. 

I have now been without an appointment for six 
years^ and so firm has been my health that there has 
not been a Sabbath during these years upon which I 
might not have preached twice, and sometimes three 
times, on a Sabbath-day when there was a call for my 
labors. So firm did my health appear that at the 
Conference for 1878 I asked for an efiective relation 
and to be given regular work again, which the Con- 
ference refused to grant for reasons better known to 
the individual voters than to myself and to many 
others. As in duty bound, I submitted to the will of 
the majority, I trust with Christian meekness, though 
I was then, and am now, satisfied that several charges 
which I should have been willing to have taken have 
not been any better served than they would have 
been under my ministry, old as I am. 

The Conference, while it declined to give me regu- 
lar work, adopted the following resolution, I believe 
unanimously : 

Eesohed, That having a high appreciation of the ripe ex- 
perience and rare abilities of Rev. Luther Lee, D.D., both as 
a preacher and lecturer, and rejoicing that he yet retains so 
much vigor for such public efforts, notwithstanding his ad- 
vanced age, we cheerfully commend him to the public, and 
will, where we find it practicable to do so, invite him to our 
pulpits, and ask our people to contribute to his support. 

John Russel, 
E. E. Caster. 

Since the above-described conference action in my 
case I have been trying to make the best of my op- 



Later Expeeiences. 



319 



portunities, and have preached and lectured where I 
have been invited. As might have been expected, 
however, the condition in the resokition appears to 
have been its most potent clause : " Will, where we 
find it practicable to do so, invite him," has brought 
me but few invitations. A few have responded no- 
bly, but many never found it " practicable." Being 
still able to preach or lecture twice on the Sabbath, 
and having now entered upon my eighty-first year, it 
must be admitted that I enjoy a green old age. To 
God be all the glory ! Amen. 



320 AuTOBioaEAPHY OF Kev. Luthek Lee. 



CHAPTEE XLII. 

Work on the Under- ground Railroad 

MT life would appear imperfect indeed if nothing 
should be said about my connection with that 
wonderful institution, the " Under-ground Kailroad." 
From about 1840 to the commencement of the War 
of the Kebellion the road did a large business, but I 
will not swell my pages with the many cases of which 
the public had authentic accounts as they occurred, 
but only relate a few cases in which I acted some part. 
The morality of assisting fugitive slaves was called in 
question by many in these early times ; but I never 
had any scruples on the subject, nor had I much diffi- 
culty in defending myself on moral ground. 

My ground was that slavery was wrong, and hence 
all laws which aided and supported it must be wrong. 
Any law which requires a citizen to do a morally 
wrong act, or to omit the performance of a moral 
duty, has no binding force, and every citizen is bound 
to disobey all such laws, and take the consequences 
rather than to disobey God. 

I used also to urge the law of nature which is de- 
veloped in every man. 'No man does or can believe 
it right that another should make a slave of him, and 
hence no slave does or can be made to beheve that he 



Work on the Under-ground Eailroad. 321 



is rightfully lield as a slave. From this it must fol- 
low that all slaves believe they have a right to escape 
from their bondage when they can do so, and their 
moral right to do so no man can deny. If, then, a 
slave has a moral right to escape from his master, I 
must have a right to help him escape. What he has 
a right to do for himself I have a right to help him 
to do if he needs my help and I am in a condition to 
render such help. These arguments always satisfied 
myself, and never failed to silence opposers, if they 
did not convince them. 

The first contested case in which I became person- 
ally interested was in the city of ISTew York. A 
young man was arrested as a fugitive slave, and by 
some means escaped from the ofl&cer — I knew not 
how — and, being closely pursued, took shelter in a 
business house, and was concealed in the loft. At this 
point in the proceedings I became acquainted with 
the case. It was strongly suspected that the place 
was watched. After a time a cart was ordered to 
take a box of goods to a steamboat dock on the Korth 
Kiver to be transported to Albany. This was at 
dusk of evening. As the box was about to be deliv- 
ered it was seized by an ofllcer, who removed the 
cover, and there was found a young colored man. 
Of course, he was held as the fugitive and locked up 
until the court should convene next morning. Mean- 
while the blatant Abolitionists made loud demonstra- 
tions, which had no effect more than to suggest to the 
21 



322 Autobiography of Eey. Luther Lee. 

officers to be watchful and make sure tlie safe keep- 
ing of their man. The next day, when the supposed 
fugitive was produced in court, it was seen at a 
glance that he was not the man who had been ar- 
rested and made his escape. The wrong man had 
been boxed up, and the real fugitive had improved a 
w^hole night and part of a day in placing a wide space 
between himself and those who were guarding his 
substitute in 'New York. He was safe. 

Another case occurred which excited much interest 
and involved some of the mysteries of the Under- 
ground Eailroad. A vessel from Brazil came into 
port with two slaves on board used as sailors. A 
writ of haheas corpus was issued on application of 
some of the meddlesome Abolitionists, and they were 
brought up for a hearing. The captain returned that 
they were his seamen, and that he held them as his 
seamen under a treaty between the United States and 
Brazil. The lawyer who was usually employed to 
attend to such cases was out of the city, and a young 
limb of the law was employed, who in reply to the 
return put in a demurrer which was fatal. I could 
liave made a better reply myseK, but I knew nothing 
about the case until after the decision on the plead- 
ing. The demurrer rested the case on the facts set 
forth in the return, which were sufficient in the ab- 
sence of other facts, and it was now too late to affirm 
or prove any other facts, and the men were returned 
to the captain as his seamen. The attorney instead 



Work on the XJndek-ground Eailkoad. 323 

of demnrring should have traversed and affirmed that 
while the men were used as seamen they were held 
as slaves contrary to the laws of the United States 
and of the State of New York. Another writ was 
obtained from another judge, to which the captain 
returned through his counsel by putting in a plea of 
Q'es judicata^ which affirms "the case has been 
judged/' and the judge would not go behind the for- 
m.er decision. A third writ was obtained from an- 
other judge, and served the moment the last decision 
was rendered. It was returnable on Monday at nine 
o'clock A.M. The captain turned to the keeper of 
the Eldridge-street jail and said, " It will not pay for 
me to take these men on board of my vessel to bring 
them back on Monday ; take them and lock them u]3, 
and I will pay you for their board." "All right," 
said the jailer, and led them away. I was in the 
court room, a silent spectator, watching the case and 
hearing the battle between the lawyers. When I had 
heard the contract between the captain and the jailer 
I walked out and found a man I happened to know, 
who had more brains than tongue and more cunning 
than logic, and said to him, " Those men are not in 
the custody of the law, and will not be until nine o'clock 
on Monday. They are private boarders at the jail, 
and if they can be got out between this time and 
Monday it will not be jail-breaking." 

It so happened that on Monday morning the men 
were gone, and no one knew how they got away. I 



S21 AUTOBIOGEAPHY OF ReV. LrXHER LeE. 

was in tlie court on Monday when the court opened, 
to see and hear what might be said and done. The 
captain appeared with his attorney and made a return 
to the writ. It affirmed that the men described in 
the writ were in his custody on Saturday, that he left 
them in care of the keeper of the Eldridge-street jail, 
that when he called for them they were not there, 
and he did not know how they escaped nor whence 
they had gone. As no one doubted the truth of his 
return it relieved him of all responsibility, but his 
men were gone. 

His attorney thought he must appear to earn his 
fee, and so blustered and raved a little, and declared 
that there had been treachery, that no man but a law- 
yer could have known that the men were not in the 
custody of the law. I said nothing, but I felt very 
sure there was one man who knew so much who had 
not the reputation of being a lawyer. The remarks 
were aimed at the opposite counsel, and intended to 
make the impression that he had dishonorably played 
sharp. This waked him up, and he filed an affidavit 
that no one had asked counsel of him and that he 
had given counsel to no person in regard to the men 
since the last decision by the court. 

The jailer was sent for, and he made oath that the 
men were in the jail on Sunday night, and that on 
Monday morning they were gone ; that he found the 
keys in their usual place, and no doors or windows 
w^ere open or broken, and that there were no marks 



WoEK ON THE Undee-ground Eaileoad. 325 

of Yiolence, and that lie had no knowledge of the 
manner in which they escaped. The judge, who was 
an aged, able, and very venerable man, put on a sol- 
emn face and said, " The only conclusion to which 
the court can come is that the men went out at the 
key-hole." 

The facts were as follows : somebody — I never knew 
who — went in and had a good time with the jailer 
until a very late hour, and the result was the jailer 
slept very sound after he was gone. This same per- 
son who spent the evening with the jailer put a flea in 
the ear of a person who was locked up for a day or two 
for some small offense, and the flea in his ear caused 
him to wake up at twelve o'clock at night and go and 
get the keys and open the door and put the two men 
out, and then lock the door and put the keys in their 
place and go to his bunk. When the jailer got up 
in the morning he was doing a loud business in the 
line of snoring. Outside there was a carriage waiting 
for the men when they came out, into which they 
entered and were driven across the State line into 
Connecticut, and sent to Boston. A ship was on the 
point of sailing for Hayti, and they were put on 
board and sent to that island. 

One of the two was a man advanced in life, and the 
other was a young man and had lately been stolen 
from Africa. He was a son of one of their pet- 
ty kings, and was educated in Arabic, and I re- 
ceived a letter from him requesting me to send him 



326 AUTOBIOGEAPHY OF EeY. LuTHES LeE. 

an Arabic Bible, wliicli I did. A few years after lie 
returned to New York to improve bis English educa- 
tion, and on learning that I had removed to Syracuse 
he came out and made me a visit, so grateful did he 
feel for the part I had acted in his behalf. 

I will describe one more case which occurred in tlie 
city of New York. A young colored man was stop- 
ping in the city, and arose one Sunday morning at 
the dawn of day, and stepped out upon the sidewalk ; 
he was knocked down, handcuffed, and thrown into 
a carriage and carried off before any alarm could be 
given. After making some search in vain his friends 
came to me for advice. All they knew was just w^hat 
is stated above, and that, though it was a severe blow, 
w^as but a slight clew, as it left no trail. I would 
see what could be done. One of the supreme judges 
of the State residing in the city was my friend, and 
had invited me to call on him for counsel in such 
cases whenever I needed it, which he would give free- 
ly. I went to him and stated the case, and he told 
me nothing could be done until the man was found. 
If they had carried him South, that was the end of the 
matter ; but if they had not carried him off yet we 
must find him. But how can that be done ? was my 
question. He toM me he knew one of the best de- 
tectives in the State, who would find him if above 
ground ; " but," said he, " it will cost something, for 
he is a poor man and cannot work without pay." I 
told him I would go and consult with some interested 



WoEK ON THE Undek-geoijnd Eaileoad 327 



parties and return and report what could be done. I 
soon returned and told him to start his detective, that 
I had good backers for his pay. 

'Now comes the process. The detective first exam- 
ined all the principal lines of travel south, and satis- 
fied himself that the man had not been removed far. 
He then made closer search about the city. He 
learned that he crossed the Brooldjm ferry. He must 
then be in Brooklyn or on Long Island. He then dis- 
covered a Baltimore clipper lying at anchor in the 
bay. In the character of a sailor he boarded her, and 
satisfied himself that there was no slave on board, but 
learned that she came in ballast, and in a few days 
was going back in ballast. This furnished matericil 
for thought. He said to himself, ^^That vessel did not 
come for nothing. If she came to take that slave back 
why did they not take him on board and sail at once ? 
There can only be one answer, which is, There are 
others they wish to catch before they go back, and if 
this be true they have concealed that man on the 
island until the others are caught." Then he com- 
menced his search, and found the man back on the 
island, chained in an old log-house, in a lonely place. 

He was brought up before the judge, the same one 
with whom. I had consulted, and one of the most 
severe legal contests followed I ever witnesed. John 
Jay, Esq., son of Judge Jay, then a young lawyer, 
was first employed in the case. Two other lawyers 
volunteered to assist in the case. There is a law in 



328 AuTOBioGi^APHY OF Eey. Luther Lee. 

l^ew York which requires the district attorney, on 
being notified that a citizen's liberty is in danger, to 
appear and defend him, subjecting him to a heavy 
fine and imprisonment if he fails to do so. Mr. Jay 
served the required notice upon Mr. M'Keon, the 
district attorney of the county and city of l^ew York, 
who was a very able lawyer, but a life-long Democrat. 
This gave us four lawyers. 

Mr. M'Keon appeared and took the lead. In open- 
ing the case he said : " Your Honor must know that 
I am not here from choice ; I have been summoned 
here under a law which not only makes it my ofiicial 
duty to appear in the case, but subjects me to heavy 
penalties in case of neglect or refusal. Such being 
my relation to the case, your honor will expect me 
to do my duty.'' And he did his duty ; more, he dis- 
played wonders of skill, tact, and cimning. The 
points involved only can be stated. 

A planter from Maryland appeared as claimant, 
with an equal array of council. 

The nephew of the claimant was introduced as a 
witness, by whom it was proved that the colored 
man was his slave, that he had known him from his 
childhood, that he was born on his uncle's plantation, 
and had always lived there as his slave until he dis- 
appeared recently. ITo one doubted the truth of the 
facts sworn to, but the effort was to evade the legal 
consequences. 

Mr. M'Keon denied that Maryland was a slave- 



WosK ON THE U]s^DEE-GEorND Kailroad. 329 



liolding State. While lie admitted that the evidence 
proved the man to have been held as a slave, it did 
not prove that he was lawfully held, which could not 
be proved by parole testimony; the law itself must be 
produced. This at first was thought to be only a 
vexations quibble, for it was supposed to be an easy 
matter to produce a volume of Maryland laws, but it 
soon became serious. Eesort was first made to the 
great law library which contained the laws of all the 
States, but no copy of Maryland laws could be found. 
Messengers flew from one private law library to 
another without success. Finally a messenger came, 
all out of breath, with a volume of Maryland laws, 
and it was supposed the case was settled. Counsel rose 
with the open volume in hand to read to the court, 
when Mr. M'Keon objected. He denied that that 
book contained the laws of Maryland, and demanded 
the certificate of the Secretary of the State. The 
judge finally decided that they might prove the book 
by parole testimony if they could, but that was no 
easy matter. One of our counsel had practiced law 
in Baltimore and they put him on the stand. 

To the question, " Have you practiced law in the 
State of Maryland ? " he answered, " Yes." " Have 
you got the laws of Maryland ? " He answered, " I 
had them, but have not got them now ; some person 
has stolen them from me." 

Showing him the volume which had been brought 
in, Is not this your book ? " 



330 AuTOBioGEAPHY OF Eev. Luther Lee. 

Looking at it lie answered, " This is not my book ; 
mine had my name in it." 

" Is that the Laws of Maryland ? " 

" It looks very much like the volume of Maryland 
laws, but I cannot say it is." That was all they could 
make him say. 

Just at this point one of the counsel for the claim- 
ant found in the enactments of the last session of the 
Legislature one which said, " Books claiming upon 
their face to be the laws of other States, published 
by the authority of the State, may be read in the 
courts of this State without further proof." No refer- 
ence to such a case as this v/as intended in the pas- 
sage of that act ; yet it covered the case, and it ap- 
peared lost. I could read in the face of Mr. M'Keon 
that he thought it was lost. Before he could rally, 
if he could have rallied at all, the judge called out, 
" Hand me that book." It was reached up to him. 
Having glanced his eye over the title-page he said, 
" Our statute says, ' Published by the authority of the 
State.' This book reads, ^Published by authority;' 
it does not say what authority. I decide that it is 
insufficient ; the man must be discharged." 

The excitement had become very great, and many 
people had gathered in the park around the Court- 
house who could not get in, and many police officers 
were sent there to keep order. They formed a line 
two deep, reaching from the door of the court-room to 
the street gate. These were all ready to enforce the 



WOKK ON THE UXDEE-GROUND EaILEOAD. 331 



orders of the court; and the decision went out and 
was known outside before there was any special move 
within. When the judge ordered the man discharged 
counsel requested the court to detain him until they 
could make out papers for his arrest as a fugitive 
slave ; but the judge declined, saying it was not in ac- 
cordance with his taste to do so. Already the pen was 
at work to draft the necessary papers for a legal ar- 
rest. Mr. M'Keon turned to the young man, and said. 

You are free, and your legs are the only security that 
you will remain free." He did not need another hint, 
and he shot from the room with the speed of an 
arrow, and word of his discharge having passed out 
ahead of him, the police opened, and he ran between 
two rows of police reaching to the gate, who, with all 
the multitude, shouted till the welkin rang. The 
slave-holder in the court-room trembled, believing 
it was the shout of a mob who would lynch him, 
and he requested the court to grant him a police 
guard to protect him to his hotel. While the judge 
granted his request he assured him that not one of 
those men would injure a hair of his head. 

In the spring of 1852 I removed from the city of 
New York to the city of Syracuse, where, during a 
three-years' pastorate, I did the largest work of my 
life on the Under-ground Railroad. I passed as many 
as thirty slaves through my hands in a month. There 
were reasons why the business flourished in my hands. 
The terrors of the Fugitive Slave Law sent them all 



332 AuTocioGEAniY oi^^ Eey. Lutiiek Lee. 

tlirongli to Canada. They formerly stopped on tliis 
side, but now no one felt safe until he stood on Brit- 
ish soil. Syracuse was a convenient shipping-point. 
I could put them in a car and tell them to keep their 
seats until they crossed the suspension bridge, and 
then they would be in Canada. 

The most potent reason was, doubtless, the fact that 
it cost nothing to ship fugitive slaves from Syracuse 
to Canada. From all other points their fare had to 
be paid ; if they could get to Syracuse they went free 
the rest of the way. The fact was, I had friends, 
or the slave had, connected with the railroad at Syra- 
cuse, of whom I never failed to get a free pass in this 
form : " Pass this poor colored man,'^ or " poor col- 
ored woman," or " poor colored family," as the case 
might be. The conductors on the route understood 
these passes, and they were never challenged. 

My name, the name of my street, and the number 
of my residence, came to be known as far south as 
Baltimore, and I did a large business. Many cases 
were of thrilling interest, but it will not do to report 
them, as they would make a book. I will only show 
my surroundings — ^how I was backed by the commu- 
nity. To give a clear view of things I must notice 
the Jerry rescue, which occurred while I resided in 
the city of N"ew York, and with which I had nothing 
to do at the time. Jerry was a fugitive slave resid- 
ing in Syracuse. It was soon after the passage of the 
Fugitive Slave Law, Mr. Daniel Webster passed 



WOF.K ON THE IlNDER-GIiOUND RaILEOAD. 333 

tlirougli Syracuse, and made a speech in wliicli lie 
said tlie Fugitive Slave Law was part of an important 
compromise wliich the interest of the whole nation 
required, and they must conquer their prejudices and 
enforce it. " Yes," said he, " it will be enforced in 
Syracuse during the next session of your county an- 
tislavery convention." It so came to pass that during 
the next county antislavery convention Jerry was ar- 
rested. The investigation was protracted until night, 
and then Jerry was rescued. There was an attempt 
made to punish the rescuers, and a number of persons 
were arrested ; but they did not get the right men. 
A Mr. Cobb was put upon trial, and they proved by 
positive testimony that he turned the gas ofi, and 
but for one plucky Irishman on the jury he would 
have been convicted ; and yet Mr. Cobb had nothing 
to do with it. It was a case of mistaken identity. 
The man who turned the gas ofi was an entire stran- 
ger in the city, but of the same style of man and 
dress as Mr. Cobb. The moment he had done the 
deed he jumped upon a train of cars and went di- 
rectly to the city of New York, and in a few hours 
was where I might have put my hand upon him. 

When I returned to Syracuse in 1852 I found de- 
termined opposition to the Fugitive Slave Law. They 
celebrated the anniversary of the Jerry rescue, and I 
was called upon for an address among others ; and I 
was radical enough to come up to their standard. 
When it was found that I was engaged on the Under- 



83-i Autobiography of Eey. Luther Lee. 

gronnd Eailroad I had good supporters, and enoiigh 
of them, and I did a large business. 

Precantion was taken against any surprise by slave- 
catcliing officers. A signal was arranged. A par- 
ticular ring of a very far-sounding bell in the Congre- 
gational church told the people for four and five 
miles that help was Y\^anted for a fugitiYe slaYe, and 
tliey would come rushing doYm from Onondaga Hills 
in a manner that meant business. 

There was a gentleman — one of our true men — by 
the name of Obed Miner. He left town to go as far 
Yrest as Lyons on business, and a telegram was re- 
ceiYed, sent from Lyons, as foUoY^s : 

' ' There will be a fugitive slave on the train which will 
pass Syracuse at eight o'clock this evening. 

''(Signed,) O. M." 

A consultation was held. All knew that if the 
O. M." represented Obed Miner there was business 
to be attended to, but most believed it to be a game 
of our enemies ; but it was thought best to be on the 
safe side, and at the right time the bell sent its pealing 
call, thrilling the air for miles. The result was, when 
the train arrived there were a thousand men on the 
track, and the way into the depot was closed up. The 
conductor, learning what the demonstration meant, 
came out upon the platform and stated that, upon 
his honor, there was no slave on board of his train, 
and that he would not carry a fugitive back to 
bondage. 



"WoEK ON THE Under-gkound Railroad. 335 

The throng opened to the right and left, and the 
train rolled into the depot and the people went qnietly 
to their homes ; and the pro-slavery men were con- 
vinced that it would not do to arrest a fugitive slave 
in Syracuse, or to carry one through the city if it 
w^ere known. 

l^Tot long before I left the city two persons were 
arrested in Milwaukee, under the Fugitive Slave Law, 
for having assisted the escape of slaves. A meeting 
of sympathy was called in Syracuse, and speeches 
were made and resolutions adopted. His honor the 
mayor presided, and made a speech on taking the 
chair. He stated that he had always been conserva- 
tive, but he could not endure the Fugitive Slave Law. 
He had heard much said about the Lender-ground Rail- 
road, but he was now in favor of laying the traclc 
above ground and he was willing to help defend it 
there. 

Several speeches were made, and I was called for 
the last speech. It was getting late, the people were 
weary, and I must strike boldly or fail. I planted 
my feet on the rock of eternal right. I affirmed that 
slavery is wrong — a moral wrong, a violation of every 
commandment of the decalogue, that no law can 
make it right to practice it, support it, or to in any 
way aid and abet it ; that the Fugitive Slave Law is a 
; war upon God, upon his law, and upon the rights of 
' humanity ; that to obey it, or to aid in its enf orce- 
: ment, is treason against God and humanity, and in- 



o36 Autobiography of Eev. Lutiiek Lee. 

volves a guilt equal to tlie guilt of violating every 
one of the ten commandments. I never had obeyed 
it — I never would obey it. I had assisted thirty 
slaves to escape to Canada during the last month. If 
the United States authorities wanted any thing of me 
my residence was at 39 Onondaga-street. I would 
admit that they could take me and lock me up in the 
Penitentiary on the hill ; but if they did such a fool- 
ish thing as that I had friends enough in Onondaga 
County to level it with the ground before the next 
morning. 

The immense throng rose upon their feet and 
shouted, " We will do it ! we will do it ! " and I have 
no doubt at that moment they thought they would. 

This chapter narrates but a small part of my labors 
on the Under-ground Railroad, but it will give a good 
view of the spirit and perils of those times. I am 
thankful I never did turn away from helping a fugi- 
tive slave, and I remember with gratitude the readi- 
ness with which others always responded to my calls 
for help. The business I transacted in Syracuse, in 
conducting the Under-ground Kailroad, often cost 
money, and it was always furnished when I called for 
it. When money was wanting to clothe, feed, or 
help a slave in any way, I only had to say so to a 
friend, and it came without further effort on my 
part. 



Life's Evexikg Hour. 



337 



CHAPTEE XLTTL 

A Review of Life— Its Evening Hour— In Sight of the 
Crossing— The Prospect Beyond. 

AS men usually compute time, my life lias been a 
. long one. In a few days I sliall be eiglity-one 
years old. But what are eighty-one years when past ? 
They may be something in deeds, good or bad, and 
may be great in responsibility, for " God requireth 
that which is past but as mere duration they are in- 
significant. When I was young, time looked almost 
like a forever to the period when I should be eighty ; 
but now the years are gone, and as I look back upon 
them, the whole looks like a departed day or a faded 
hour. The wdiole career of life, w^itli all its activities 
and successes and failures, seems but little more than 
a troubled dream imperfectly remembered. 

But when I undertake to analyze life, and count 
out its dark and troubled days, and its bright, sunny 
hours, and number its many trials and temptations, 
and the deliverances ; when I attem]3t to locate th-i 
many battle-grounds, and offset the victories and de- 
feats against each other, and weigh the joys and soi- 
rows, and measure out the several weary stages, it is 
no empty dream. I then deal with realities. It Is 
then that I see how much rugged way I liave pash-ed, 



338 Autobiography of Rev. LuxiiEr. Lee. 



liow many rocky hills I have crossed, liow many 
narrow defiles I have threaded, and how many slip- 
pery precipices I have walked, when an nnseen 
hand must have led me safely, or I had slipped, 
fallen, and perished. I see many dark sorrows over- 
hanging part of the way, and I count the graves of 
many dear friends as I look back over the road I have 
traveled. 

But life has not all been dark and rough ; there are 
seen along the way som^e bright spots, here and there 
a fountain, around which an oasis bloomed, giving a 
happy resting-place for a few days or a few hours. 
Eemembered joys, which blessed the years that have 
fied, are like the chime we hear from a far-off dome, 
floating on the zephyrs of a summer evening's twi- 
light hour. ISTo remembered joys of earth are so dear 
as those that blessed the humble abode of the itin- 
erant, nov/ seen far back by the way-side, when chil- 
dren caroled in my home. Thought wanders back, 
and my ears hear those clattering little feet and voices, 
and my heart bounds at the remembered greetings 
when I returned, weary and care-worn, from my toils 
abroad. These visions last only for a moment ; the 
spell is broken, and I awake to a realization of the fact 
tliat those joys were known in the distant past, and are 
forever gone. 

Sweet are those joys remembered long, 
The joYS that blest the days of yore ; 

But SAveeter far now past and gone, 
To come and bless my home no more. 



Life's Evening IIoue. 



339 



From cottage floor, along life's track, 

The voices of loved children, thrill ; 
And swift-winged thought oft wanders back, 

And listens to those voices still. 

Soft echoes from those distant years, 
Like muffled chimes from far-off dome, 

Still breathe svreet- music in my ears, 
Of childhood's carols in my home. 

But silent now my cottage door, 

No children's voices greet my ears ; 
For children carol there no more 

As in those long-departed years. 

Eut how short has life been ! The reader starts 
and inquires, Has life been short to one who has lived 
eighty years ? Yes, eighty years, when past, are but 
a few short years. "When I first woke up to the fact 
that I was an old man I could not understand how I 
had become so old in so short a time. I might never 
have understood the matter, had not my Muse whis- 
pered the secret in my ear : 

But just beyond life's dark and troubled years 
The sunny morn of childhood still appears, 
And thought flies back, once more to quaff the joy. 
To join the play, or sport again the toy. 

But childhood's hours, so full of heartsome glee, 
Were born with wings and waited not for me ; 
As flits the shadow of a bird away. 
So childhood vanished while I was at play. 

I was a youth, with garlands on my brow, 
Not as I am, a care-worn pilgrim, now; 
Life throbbed in every vein, and beat the heart 
With zeal, to act in life a noble part. 



34:0 Autobiography of Eey. Lutiiek Lee. 



But years went by, as years had gone before ; 
Youth felt their touch, and youth was youth no more , 
So quickly changed by time's transforming power. 
Departed youth seemed but a faded hour. 

The years of manhood, active, brave, and strong, 
Were given to the right, against the wrong ; 
Then Truth and Error met upon the field, 
And long the battle raged — Truth would not yield. 

And so intensely earnest was the fight, 
Quite unperceived Time made his rapid flight, 
Till age had gathered on the warrior's brow, 
And white his locks, just as you see them now. 

The fact that I have grown so old in what appears 
to be so short a time finds its explanation in the ex- 
treme activity and earnestness of mv life, which 
cansed me to make little note of time. Amid the act- 
ivities of a busy, earnest day, we have but little time 
to think beyond what engages ns as the lionrs pass ; 
but when the evening comes, with its relaxation and 
stillness, we can revievv^ the deeds and results of the 
vdiole day wnth calmness, scrutiny, and profit. I am 
now enjoying life's quiet evening hour, and can take 
a more calm, reflective, and impartial view of life 
than I could in the midst of its earnest activities. I 
thank God for this calm hour, and feel that it is a 
great blessing to enjoy it at the close of so long, act- 
ive, and stern a life as mine has been. The storms 
and battles of life are ended, and I have time to re- 
view the whole and sum up the results. 

If I estimated life by the worldly advantages I 



Life's Evening IIouk. oil 

have secured for myself, I sliould pronounce it a fail- 
ure. Mine has been a life of hard labor, full of anx- 
iety and solicitude, and yet it has secured me neither 
riches, position, nor fame. My life closes as it began, 
with very little of this world ; indeed, not enough to 
insure me against want in helpless old age. I really 
believe I might have secured wealth had I devoted 
myself to it as ardently as I did to what I believed to be 
truth and righteousness. This course was not pursued 
because I was indifferent to v/ealtli. I never saw the 
day when I would not have secured wealth could I 
have done it in harmony with my convictions of duty ; 
but that was impossible. The course which I believed 
it my duty to pursue would bring me neither popu- 
larity, wealth, nor many friends ; and so I have lived 
and come down to old age without them. During 
all my life have I maintained a war against both the 
sale and use of intoxicating drinks. This I did when 
it cost something, when I had to contend with local 
preachers, stewards, class-leaders, and members on the 
charges to which I was appointed, and it sometimes 
made my loaf of bread smaller than it would other- 
wise have been. Thirty years of the prime of my 
life were almost exclusively devoted to the overthrow 
of the accursed system of slavery, in the face of op- 
position from the Church and the world, from priests 
and politicians. This warfare, waged for conscience' 
sake, secured for me more poverty than money, and 
more enemies than fiiends. 



342 Autobiography of Eey. Lutiiee Lee. 

But I do not regard life a failure because I have 
not secured the highest advantages of this world. If 
I have done something to advance the cause of tem- 
perance to its present strength, and if I have contrib- 
uted to the overthrow of slavery, life has been no 
failure. But in another aspect life has been a suc- 
cess. I have preserved my integrity, and come out 
of life's struggle an honest man, having never sold 
myself for place or pelf. I wish here to record the 
fact that this is all my boast ; I claim nothing for myself 
more than the honor of having lived an honest man, 
Nor do unsupplied wants in old age tempt me to 
regret the course I have pursued. If I now had 
wealth, place, and powerful friends, I could enjoy 
them but a short time ; and if they were the price of 
integrity, if to gain them I had suppressed one utter- 
ance of God's truth when it was called for, they 
w^ould cloud life's setting sun, and make death less 
welcome, if they would not plant my dying bed with 
thorns. It is better to die in a poor-house, true and 
honest, than to die surrounded by friends and luxu- 
ries purchased at the expense of integrity. 

More than eighty years old, and yet my heart feels 
young ; and I am not infirm, as must be known from 
the fact that I am in the habit of going from home 
and addressing large congregations morning and 
evening. Last June I visited Lake Superior, seven 
hundred miles from my home, and preached and 
lectured through the copper region for two months, 



Life's EvEmNG Hour. 



343 



speaking from four to six times a week, and all tiiis 
without a traveling companion. Yet, when I remem- 
ber that I was born in 1800, I know I am old and 
cannot tarry here much longer. 

It is not the most cheering thought that after a 
long life and severe struggle I must leave the world 
just as its salvation is beginning to dawn ; yet this 
chilling thought is relieved by a brighter one. The 
cause of God will experience no shock or check when 
I drop out ; God will provide agencies, who, under 
him, will carry it on successfully. 

It has been a great privilege to live in such an age 
as I have lived in. Every thing which is now classed 
among modern improvements has been brought out 
for trial in my day. Steamboats, railroads, tele- 
graphs, the power-press, paper-making machines, all 
manner of labor-saving machines, have been invented 
and brought out in my time. I was ten years old 
when the first cotton-thread was spun by machinery 
in the United States. 

All the civilizing, moralizing. Christianizing, and 
elevating institutions beyond the simple Church- 
which are hastening the world's salvation have been 
born of the wisdom and benevolence which have 
blessed the years of my short life. The great Bible 
societies of Europe and America are yoimger than I 
am, and so are all the great missionary organizations. 
More has been done for the elevation of humanity 
and the salvation of the world since I was -born than 



oii AUTOLIOGKAPIIY OF EeY. LuTIIER LeE. 

was done in tlie preceding tlioiisand years. As late 
as when I commenced my ministry the Methodist 
Episcopal Church had only seventeen Annual Con- 
ferences, including all the Sonthern States and Can- 
ada. INTow there are ninety-four Conferences, exclu- 
sive of the Church South and Canada, besides foreign 
work. Such has been the increase of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church during my ministry ; and the fact 
that I have contributed to these results in the small- 
est degree is worth my life of toil. 

Old age has a shady side, if we will allow ourselves 
to dwell in the shade. When I first realized that I 
was an old man I read a poem which contained these 
lines : 

The winds of time have swept 
Long since my youth and manhood's prime away, 
And through my frame a withering blight has crept, 
The mildew of decay." 

A shadow seemed to come over me for a moment 
when I read these lines, but it was only for a moment. 
The end of life would be dark indeed if there were 
no vision and no hope beyond the grave, but Christ 
has "abolished death, and brought life and immor- 
tality to light through the Gospel." As I look down 
into the grave now open at my feet I hear the voice 
of Christ saying, " I am the resurrection, and the life : 
he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet 
shall he live : and whosoever liveth and believeth in 
me shall never die." 



Life's Eyexixg Hour. 



345 



The Gospel which I have preached to others for 
sixty years is now my light, and it sheds its bright- 
ness upon my evening hour of life, as hill-tops are 
bathed in glory by the last rays of the setting sun 
while shadows gather at their base. 

A care-worn pilgrim, still I roam, 

Far down the Yale, hard by the shore, 

And wait, where Jordan's waters foam, 
The mystic boat to bear me o'er. 

My sun goes down, the west is clear ; 

Bright golden beams athwart the sky 
Proclaim the gates of heaven near 

I know the entrance must be nigh. 

The evening glow of golden hue 

Is flashed from heaven's outer shrine ; 

But, pass the inner veil once through, 
The glory will be all divine. 

Jehovah there his face unvails, 

And glory covers all the plain ; 
It lights the hills, illumes the vales, 

His temple all — our living fane. 

Why tremble, then, so near the gate, 
And fear to leave this world of sin, 

While angels at the portals wait 
To welcome weary pilgrims in ? 



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